By Nigel Higgins.

The first time I came across Skylarks breeding in avairies was eleven years ago. In that instant I knew I had to have a pair. That same year I purchased my very first pair from a breeder. I have kept them in my stud ever since.

The first year I had a go at breeding these delightful birds was a disaster, the cock never really sang and one day in April I found a lovely nest containing three eggs. I remember it well. I was putting food into their flight when I saw two little black eyes watching my every move from a cluster of grass. The hen had dug out a scrape under the eaves and lined it with dried grass. I was over the moon to say the least, my first Skylark nest. Then, to my horror, a few days later I found another nest with the so called cock sitting eggs. Cock skylarks do not build or help with incubating the eggs therefore I knew i had two hens, so that year was wasted.

Sexing Skylarks

The best way to sex the Skylark is first by their song. You know you have a cock bird when you hear his song. I am writing this article in my sitting room and I can hear my cock Skylark singing his heart out. Also the cock Skylark's hind claw is longer than the hen but this not easy to identify. I know another keeper who watches his Skylarks and swears the cocks, when they fly up in the flight, hover along the tops of the flight. The hen, on the other hand, is like a yo-yo, flying up and down. Personally, I still believe the best way to sex these birds is there song. I bought my first pair from an experienced softbill keeper, and I still ended up with two hens. Mistakes do happen.

Feeding the Skylark

I feed my Skylarks on Beapher/Bogena mixed softbill food. I always place the feeding dishes on the ground. The Skylark is a very hardy bird and can winter outside with no problems at all.

Housing the Skylark

My first flight, within which I placed my pair was 10'x6'x6' high. The floor was concrete to keep out vermin, but prior to concreting I laid half inch by half inch mesh on the ground and then made a square box like shuttering. I placed it on the avairy floor, and concreted around the shuttering. I then filled the box up with soil and turfed it. I also laid a couple of inches of soil on the concrete floor and lay turf on top of that and it seemed to do the job. Now we have all seen little dots in the sky singing a delightfull tune, and they do the same when they are kept in captivity. They do fly up but they always stop short of the flight top. It is an amazing sight.

Breeding the Skylark

Like i have previously stated, the best way to sex these birds is their song. The second year I kept these birds I knew I had a pair, there was no mistaking the cock bird.He filled the garden with the skylark song. One day I witnessed the cock while singing he held one wing up flapping it really fast and circling the hen. He was displaying to her. You would have to be very lucky to see that in the wild. Skylarks are very discrete in nest building, with the hen doing all the work. Before you know it one bird has gone missing presumed dead, then while you are feeding, you spot two eyes looking up at you from under a turf of grass sitting eggs. They make a wonderfull nest

Skylarks lay between 3 and 5 eggs, and sit from the third egg being laid. The hen does all the incubating of the eggs. They hatch out at eleven days, by which time I am supplying mini mealworms dusted with a multivitamin and calcium powder.

The chicks grow really quickly, and need to be rung at four days old and no later or you will be unable to ring them.

Young skylarks leave the nest quite early so be very carefull when you are walking into their flights. They are so camuoflaged they are really hard to see.

Skylarks will reward you with anything up to five rounds in a season. My birds had five rounds last year, hatching out sixteen chicks and reared eleven to maturity. Well thats not entirly true. I had to help out by taking away one chick to hand rear after it was thrown from the nest due to ring rejection. I solved this problem with skin coloured rubber tubing placed over the ring and cut to size. It never happened again.