Happy as a (Sky)lark

20 Thursday Apr 2017

Tags

Alauda arvensis, bird conservation, bird idiom, birding, birdwatching, British birds, happy as a lark, Red list, Skylark, The Blorenge

It’s easy to see where the ‘happy as a lark’ expression comes from when you hear a Skylark singing – they sound like they’re positively bursting with happiness. And, though they sing throughout the year, spring is the prime season for their singing, as the males perform their vertical flight displays, hovering and belting out their songs from high in the sky before plummeting back down to earth. How could a female Skylark not be impressed with such melodic rhapsodies!

170420 Skylark (1)

When it’s on the ground, the Skylark (Alauda arvensis) can be difficult to spot, as its streaky brown colours blend so well with its preferred habitat, of grassland and moorland, as you can see in these photos, taken on top of The Blorenge, a 561-metre mountain in the Brecon Beacons National Park.

Sadly, the once numerous Skylark has declined greatly in numbers in recent years and it’s now on the British Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern. Its decline has been attributed to agricultural intensification and to changing farming practices – many farmers have switched from spring to autumn for the sowing of their cereal crops, which has a knock-on effect on farmland birds. Hopefully, something can be done to rescue these beautiful songsters; otherwise the Skylark will be happy no longer.

It’s World Sparrow Day!

20 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, nature photography

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

birding, birds, birdwatching, British birds, Cambodia sparrow, house sparrow, New Zealand sparrow, Red list, rufous-collared sparrow, sparrow, Tanzanian sparrow

I miss sparrows.

160320 sparrow (1)

In my homeland, New Zealand, they are probably the most common and well known bird, though the New Zealand sparrow is not a native – it was introduced there several times between 1866 and 1871, and has clearly made itself at home. Sparrows were also familiar birds during the time I lived in Peru and in Cambodia but, here in Wales, I seldom see them, because, in recent years, the humble house sparrow (Passer domesticus domesticus) has undergone a huge decline in Britain. And I do mean huge – the British Trust for Ornithology website reports that the population has declined by 71% since 1977, possibly due to loss of habitat but also to a decline in the insects adult birds feed their young. The house sparrow is now on Britain’s red list, as a bird of the highest conservation concern.

160320 sparrow (2)

Around the world there are 26 species of house sparrow, native to Europe, Asia and north-west Africa. There are also American sparrows (from a separate family, the Emberizidae) and birds with similar names, like the Java sparrow (also a different family, the Estrildidae). Still, the world would be much the poorer if it lost the lovely British house sparrow, so it is gratifying to know that various wildlife organisations are working to improve its situation and increase its population. Today, let’s celebrate the humble sparrow!