Opinion - News Analysis   

Larks are losing the ability to sing

The poet Shelley, who immortalised the skylark, would have been saddened to know that threatened songbirds in Spain are losing their voice.

A study has found Dupont’s lark, a relative of the skylark, is losing its singing range because numbers are falling. Biologists from the Donana National Park in Andalucia found that when male larks had fewer birds from which to learn new notes or ranges their repertoire decreased. The number of notes a male uses is vital in attracting females.

Dupont’s lark, Chersophilus duponti, is found in Europe only in southern, central and north-east Spain and there are thought to be only 2,000 birds remaining as their natural habitat has been destroyed by man.

It is classified as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In the study, published in the journal Public Library of Science on Wednesday, the Spanish scientists recorded the singing range and number of notes of 330 male birds, mainly in the Ebro valley region in north-east Spain.

Using hidden microphones in places the birds usually inhabited, they taped mating calls. Paola Laiolo, who led the research team, said: “The female birds are attracted by the complexity and range of the male’s song.

“We found that the lack of variation of notes or scales corresponded to the areas where the population of larks was smallest. The birds which lacked tutors — or other male birds to learn from — had the smallest range.”

Dupont’s lark has a range of 12 singing sequences or phrases. It is smaller than the skylark and its brown colour makes it hard to spot, so censuses are carried out by counting birds by their songs.

Dupont’s lark needs flat scrubland but in Spain much of this has been used for building development in Andalucia, Murcia, Castilla la Mancha and Catalonia. It is also found in north Africa.

Shelley, writing of the Dupont’s lark’s distant cousin in his poem “To a Skylark,” in 1820, revels in the bird’s song:

“Like a star of Heaven/ In the broad daylight/ Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Taking the stress out of schools
Virtues of being simple
The distant war in the neighbourhood
The knight of science fiction
Locals unhappy as gas plant comes on stream
Larks are losing the ability to sing
Taslima’s remarks
Noble gesture
Commendable

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu