Woodlark Lullula arborea
Winter distribution change
Rare breeder, scarce local winter visitor, some probably from New Forest
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Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2013
Atlas species lists
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More Woodlark maps
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More maps for this atlas
Map explanation
This map shows the changes which occurred in the winter distribution of the species between 1995-2000 and 2007-2012, but only in the limited selection of tetrads that were surveyed in winter for Birds of Wiltshire (Wiltshire Ornithological Society 2007).
Key
Data not mapped to preserve confidentiality
Wood Larks breed across Europe, from the Mediterranean north to southern Fenno-Scandia and eastward to central Russia, also in North Africa, Asia Minor and the Levant eastward to Iran and southern Turkmenistan. They winter in the south and west of this area, migrating north to breed.
In Great Britain their numbers have fluctuated: they were widespread throughout England and Wales in the early 19th century, then their numbers declined between 1850 and 1920, rose again until about 1950, then declined in the second half of the 20th century century, before starting to rise again in the 1990s. Between 1997 and 2006 they expanded their range by 46% and their population increasedby 88%. In England they breed mostly south of a line from Devon to north Norfolk, with a scattering found in the midlands and as far north as Yorkshire. They mostly winter near their breeding areas, with the result that their winter and summer distribution maps are broadly similar.
In Wiltshire in the 19th century, Wood Larks were uncommon, but occasionally recorded throughout the county, a situation that continued until well into the 20th century. There were no confirmed breeding records between1962 and 1998 but thereafter there have been occasional reports of nesting, mostly near the Hampshire border. Similarly, most winter sightings occur in areas near to Hampshire breeding areas.
References
The following references are used throughout these species accounts, in the abbreviated form given in quotation marks:
“1968-72 Breeding Atlas” – Sharrack, J.T.R. 1976: The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1981-84 Winter Atlas” – Lack, P.C. 1986: The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1988-91 Breeding Atlas” – Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.A. 1993: The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1988-91. T. & A. Poyser
“Birds of Wiltshire” – Ferguson-Lees, I.J. et al. 2007 : Birds of Wiltshire, published by the tetrad atlas group of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society after mapping fieldwork 1995-2000. Wiltshire Ornithological Society.
“Bird Atlas 2007-2011” – Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S. and Fuller, R.J. 2013: Bird Atlas 2007-2011: the Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland
“WTA2” – ("Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2 ") the present electronic publication, bringing together the Wiltshire data from “Birds of Wiltshire” and “Bird Atlas 2007-11”, together with data from further fieldwork carried out in 2011 and 2012.
"Hobby" - the annual bird report of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society.