Birds · Passeriformes · Alaudidae
Woodlark
Lullula arborea
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary
The smallest of our larks and the one most tied to woodland. A brown back with black bars, a barred crown, reddish cheeks and two whitish supercilia that meet on the nape. Its tail is very short and in flight it shows a black and white patch on the edge of the wing.
Weight
24 kg – 35 kg
Size
13.5 cm – 15 cm
Lifespan
5 years
Diet
Omnivore
Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Social structure
In pairs
Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.
Sighting difficulty
Easy
Estimated population
The European breeding population is estimated at between 4,290,000 and 9,130,000 mature individuals according to the 2021 European Red List of Birds
Fun facts
- GeneralIts wistful falling song carries even at night.
- Its song, which Lars Svensson described as sweet though wistful, is the origin of its scientific name (Lullula), of its French name (alouette lulu) and of almost all its Iberian folk names, known in Spanish as tutuvía, cutuvía, titivío or tantararira.
- It is the lark that perches in trees most, hence the epithet arborea.
- It can benefit from forest thinning and from fires, but it is harmed by agricultural intensification and by the abandonment of the dehesas.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
- Habitat & environment
- Pine-wood clearings, heath and dehesa
- Birth weight
- Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent
- Size at birth
- Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent
- Sexual maturity
- 1 year
- Gestation / incubation
- 12-15 days, by the female. The chicks fledge at 10-13 days
- Litter / clutch size
- 2-6 white to olive eggs speckled with reddish brown, with one or two clutches between March and July. It nests in a scrape on the ground sheltered by a tussock
Sources consulted: SEO/BirdLife (ficha y III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España); IUCN Red List; Asturnatura; Serrano-Davies y Pérez-Granados 2022, III Atlas; Lista Roja Europea de Aves 2021; Carrascal y Palomino 2008; Tellería, Asensio y Díaz 1999
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapBest time: From March to July, when the male sings in flight, spiralling upwards and then dropping in a dive with its wings closed
Where to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 10 de 190 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Woodlark — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Calandra Lark
Melanocorypha calandra
Eurasian Skylark
Alauda arvensis
Greater Short-toed Lark
Calandrella brachydactyla
Crested Lark
Galerida cristata
Eurasian Collared Dove
Streptopelia decaocto
Black-bellied Sandgrouse
Pterocles orientalis
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about woodlark.
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