The Life of Animals | Lark | Larks are small to medium-sized birds, 12 to 24 cm (5 to 8 inches) in length and 15 to 75 grams (0.5 to 2.6 ounces) in weight (Kikkawa 2003). They have more elaborate than most birds calls, and Often given extravagant songs in display flight (Kikkawa 2003). Most species build nests on the ground, usually cups of dead grass, but in some species more complicated and partly domed. A few desert species nest very low in bushes, so Perhaps circulating water can cool the nest. Larks' eggs are usually speckled, and clutch sizes range from 2 (ESPECIALLY in species of the driest deserts) to 6 (in species of temperate regions). Larks incubate for 11 to 16 days (Kikkawa 2003). Like many ground birds, most species have long Lark Hind claws, the which are thought to Provide stability while standing.
Many species dig with Their bills to uncover food. Some Larks have heavy bills (reaching an extreme in the Thick-billed Lark) for cracking open seeds, while others have long, down-curved bills, the which are ESPECIALLY Suitable for digging (Kikkawa 2003). Larks are the only passerines That Their lose all feathers in their first moult (in all species Whose first moult is known).
In many respects, Including tertial long feathers, Larks resemble other ground birds Such as pipits. Larks are a well-defined family, partly Because of the shape of Their tarsus (Ridgway 1907). For instance, the American Ornithologists' Union places just after the Crows Larks, shrikes, and vireos. At a finer level of detail, some now place the Larks at the beginning of a superfamily Sylvioidea with the swallows, Various' Old World warbler "and" Babbler "groups, and others (Barker et al., 2002, Alstrom et al. 2006) . Larks, commonly consumed with bones intact, have Historically been Considered wholesome, delicate, and light gaming.
Lark's Tongues were particularly highly valued. In modern times, shrinking habitats Lark made meat rare and hard to come by, though it can still be found in Italy and elsewhere in Restaurants in Southern Europe (Hooper).
