Bird, bug, butterfly and a wild variety of photos from Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain by Irish wildlife photographer Patrick J. O'Keeffe and invited guests

Showing posts with label Woodlark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Woodlark. Show all posts

Tuesday 22 March 2016

WOODLARK (Lullula arborea) Kaminia River, Nikiforos Fokas, Rethymno, Crete, Greece


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Click here for detailed species information
Click here to see distribution map and to hear calls

The Woodlark or Wood Lark (Lullula arborea) is a small passerine in the lark genus Lullula.  It breeds across the Middle East, Western Asia as well as parts of northern Africa and most of Europe but is absent from Iceland, Ireland, Northern Britain, Northern Scandinavia and Northern Russia.  
There are two subspecies recognised L. a. arborea and L. a. pallida.
The western population is sedentary whereas the eastern population is semi migratory and winters in the warmer part of its range. 
It can be confused with other species of lark but it has quite a short tail and has a very distinctive black and white mark along the edge of the closed wing. In flight it shows a noticeable dark patch at the bend of the wing as well as a narrow white trailing edge to the tail. 

Reference: Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds