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Recordings
Length
18.0 cm
Similar species
Information
Uncommon passage migrant, winter and early spring visitor. Locally this bird forms large winter flocks in areas with grassy fields in farms and open deserts. It is widespread in Kuwait and influxes may take place in severe weather; up to 2000 recorded in mid December 2007.
Where in Kuwait
It is found in large flocks in a wide range of open habitats including saltmarsh and coastal grazing land, arable farmland where the majority of foraging is carried out in short vegetation.
In the world
It has an extremely large range with a population is estimated to be in decline following marked regional declines in recent decades linked to agricultural intensification. It breeds across most of Europe and Asia and in the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations are more migratory, moving further south in winter. the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote of the skylark (Alauda arvensis) 'Hail to thee, blithe spirit, bird thou never were't', he may well have had the exalted song of this species in mind.
Local threats
Habitat loss and degradation and pesticides