Epsiode 1: Skylark – Léierchen
Who is singing and clamouring persistently over the field…?
With the new ” Lend an ear to nature” campaign, the Mouvement Ecologique wants to draw attention to these often-threatened species and their habitats – and combine it with a guessing quiz on the noise of the animal in question.
A total of two short videos on a species of animal from our localities and landscapes will be published each month from the end of April until October.
Guess with us – which animal is making that sound? and win a Naturata voucher worth €50 per spot!
Did you recognise the skylark in the clip?
The skylark is particularly well known for its long-lasting, melodic song, which it performs during the so-called song flight. The male climbs in wide spirals up to several dozen metres into the sky – often so far that it can only be perceived as a small dot – and sings there continuously for up to 15 minutes (!). This is how the male demarcates his territory during the mating season in spring and attracts females. In contrast to the skylark, most other songbirds sing from an elevated perch, often much shorter and less conspicuous.
Keep your eyes and ears open on your next walk from April! Their song can be heard from afar, but who will be the first to spot them in the sky?
Lifestyle & requirements
The skylark is highly dependent on an open landscape consisting of agricultural land. However, these should not be too “uniform”, i.e. they should not only consist of very large, intensively utilised fields. The skylark needs variety, e.g. strips between the fields where grasses and herbs grow, so-called “field margins”, or parts of the fields that are not cultivated for a while and lie “fallow”. The skylark can also be found on lightly sown fields and very sparse, nutrient-poor meadows with low-growing vegetation.
It needs the above-mentioned elements and retreats to be able to lay its nest in peace. This is because it builds its nest on the ground; it is a so-called ground breeder.
Dangers for the skylark
As the skylark builds its nest directly on the ground in open, undisturbed areas, agricultural work (ploughing, fertilising or harvesting) during the period when it is incubating its eggs poses a considerable threat to its clutches and young birds.
Today’s agricultural practices provide few resting places on the land – so-called fallow land. Here the skylark could breed in peace, but such areas are almost non-existent. Another problem is that the undisturbed edges between the individual plots disappear when the parcels become larger and are merged.
In addition, the land is used very uniformly, i.e. the same crops are grown in most fields at the same time. This means that the work is also carried out at the same time, i.e. the skylark and other animals cannot move from one field to another. Pesticides are also used on most fields to protect the crops from pests and destroy unwanted weeds – but this also affects the diversity of unproblematic plants and insects. And the skylark can no longer find food.
Distribution in Luxembourg
It used to be very common in Luxembourg – in the 1960s there were around 55,000 breeding pairs, but as a result of the above-mentioned developments in agriculture, there are now only around 5,000, which is why it is on the Red List, i.e. it is endangered.
Would you like to help the skylark?
- Support a farm that treats its fields as little as possible with synthetic chemical pesticides – for example an organic farm in Luxembourg. The skylark finds more food there.
- Report a skylark that you observe via the iNaturalist app. You can easily record and upload their song. This way you can help monitor skylark populations in Luxembourg.
More information about the skylark from NABU (in German)
⇒ Are you interested in further episodes? Click here to view the campaign.