Skylark named Swiss Bird of the Year – Expat Guide to Switzerland
The skylark has lived with humans in open agricultural landscapes for centuries. But the industrialization of agriculture has been threatening the existence of the skylark for decades, says BirdLife Switzerland, which has named it Swiss Bird of the Year 2022.
As bird of the year, the skylark should also stand for other threatened species in cultivated land and indicate a necessary reorientation of agricultural policy, said the organization on Thursday.
“Although small and inconspicuous, the skylark is one of the best and most stubborn singers in the bird world,” it said. “In spring it flutters across fields and meadows for minutes, trilling almost continuously. The male uses his singing skills to win over a female. “
The skylark is a ground breeder. In April the female lays four to six eggs, which hatch in an average of 12 days. The young birds leave the nest after seven to twelve days – one of the shortest breeding and nesting times among birds.
However, this is no longer sufficient for safe breeding, said BirdLife Switzerland. Skylarks now struggle to find safe breeding grounds and enough insects and spiders for their young. This is due to the heavily fertilized meadows, frequent mowing and thus fewer flowering plants and insects.
As a result, the skylark has practically disappeared from the meadows of the Central Plateau. In the canton of Zurich, for example, the population decreased by 90% between 1977 and 2017.
Residual populations only
The skylark is also increasingly threatened in the Alps. Stocks only remain in areas with many unfertilized and late-mown meadows in biodiversity support areas and in protected areas.
In addition to meadows, the situation for the skylark has also deteriorated dramatically in fields. Food is scarce, pesticides kill insects, and strips of farmland as a refuge and arable flora are lacking.
Although bird conservationists were able to achieve minor successes across the country, these were not enough to reverse the trend, according to BirdLife Switzerland.
“The skylark and many other once widespread species of our cultural landscape can only be preserved in the long term with the right incentives from an ecologically oriented agricultural policy,” said director Raffael Ayé.
Keystone SDA / ts