Larks (Alaudidae) - HBW 9

Woodlark (Lullula arborea)

French: Alouette lulu German: Heidelerche Spanish: Alondra Totovía

Taxonomy: Alauda arborea Linnaeus, 1758, Sweden.
Genus possibly better merged with Alauda, as structural and behavioural differences between the two probably insufficient to justify splitting them. Yellow-tinged (fresh plumage) birds from Romania described as race flavescens and similar but marginally smaller ones from Crete as wettsteini, both regarded as indistinguishable from pallida. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • arborea (arborea Linnaeus, 1758) - breeds from S Fennoscandia, S Britain, France and N Iberia E to W Russia, Ukraine, N Italy and N Balkans.
  • pallida (pallida Zarudny, 1902) - S Europe and NW Africa E (including larger Mediterranean islands) to Turkey, Caucasus, Levant (S to N Israel), Iran and SW Turkmenistan.

  • Least Concern
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