Characteristics, Prices, Male-Female Distinction, and Rearing Methods of the Lark
The lark is the general name for birds of the genus Alauda in the order Passeriformes, class Aves. It is a representative bird of the grasslands, belonging to the small songbirds, and feeds on insects and grass seeds.So what characteristics does the lark have? How much does one cost? How do you distinguish male from female? How do you raise one?According to poultry farmer Uncle Fang, lark chicks cost between 15-60 RMB depending on the region; artificially raised adult birds cost between 50-200 RMB depending on the number of years in the cage. Moreover, the number of song repertoires and the bird's appearance all affect the price. A lark that can perform 13 sets of songs might cost several thousand yuan, and if it can also perform the open-cage display, it would probably cost tens of thousands of yuan. Wild-caught adult birds generally cost 10-20 yuan, but they cannot be “trained to mimic.”
What characteristics does the small songbird lark have?
1. The sand lark and the skylark can shoot up from the ground straight into the sky, maintaining balance of upward, downward, forward and backward forces in the air, hovering and singing at a single point.
The horned lark often quietly runs on the ground, or stands at a high point to peer at the surroundings, acting rather stealthily. The crested lark is named for the tuft of upright black long feathers forming a single horn-like crest on top of its head. It is naturally bold and likes to forage on roads, unperturbed by people. The female bird, when incubating eggs, is also not as easily startled into flight as other birds. In terms of plumage color, the male bird's crown, hindneck and forehead are reddish-brown, the back is mostly light brown, the wings and tail are dark brown, the edges of the large wing feathers are grayish-white, and a black band of varying width runs horizontally below the rump, much like a thick necklace, with a white ring around the lower chest. The belly is sand-white, and irregular dark brown streaks are distributed on both sides of the chest.
The lark has a loud call and is good at imitating the calls of other birds and animals as well as the sounds produced by moving objects. It sings in complete sets and can even sing while dancing, which is very endearing.
2. The lark has superb mimicry abilities and can learn the language of other animals. It can not only imitate the calls of swallows, orioles, sparrows, hwamei and siskins, but also learn the clucking of hens, the quacking of ducks, the meowing of cats, the barking of dogs, and can even learn the crying of babies. This skill acquired through learning improves with age. When it learns chicken calls, from the chirping of chicks, the clucking of a hen calling her chicks, the cheeping of chicks that cannot find the hen, the cackling of a hen laying eggs, to the crowing of a rooster, together they form a “movement.” An excellent lark can even string together the calls of various animals, singing continuously, as if it were a symphony.
3. The lark is both a “singer” and a “dancer.” Its song is not just single notes, but strings many notes together into a composition. When singing, it often spreads its wings and performs various dance movements, as if a butterfly were fluttering. The lark not only beautifies the environment with its wonderful voice, graceful dance and astonishing flying skills, but also adds endless joy to human life, and further maintains the balance of the ecosystem through its own existence.
How do you distinguish male from female in the small songbird lark?
1. Look at the head. A small head, no back of the head bulge, and narrow near the beak indicates a female bird. A large head, with a back of the head bulge, and wide near the beak indicates a male bird.
2. Look at the eyes. Large, spirited eyes, with the eyes above the beak and closer to the corners of the mouth indicate a male bird. Small, dull, staring eyes, with the eyes and beak on the same line and farther from the corners of the mouth indicate a female bird.
3. Look at the eyebrows. White eyebrows, wide and long, or although narrow but long, clear and elegant, with both eyebrow lines extending to the back of the head, and thick eyebrows meeting and connecting as one at the back of the head indicate a male bird. This is one of the main indicators for distinguishing male from female. Thick, short, inelegant eyebrows, with unclear eyebrow color, sometimes with gaps in the middle, and not connecting at the back of the head indicate a female bird.
4. Look at the legs. The male bird's legs are thick, strong and long. Male birds hatched on grassy flats sometimes have red legs, which are even more attractive. There is a saying: “The hwamei's eyebrows, the lark's legs.” This means that the eyebrows and legs are among the main indicators for distinguishing male from female in hwamei and larks. Thin, short and not sturdy legs indicate a female bird. When looking at the legs, pay attention to whether there are breaks or injuries on the claws, feet and legs, and whether the feet turn inward in a splayed shape or the toes do not extend evenly.
5. Look at the beak. A long, thick beak with strong pecking ability indicates a male bird. Some have a hooked beak or a jade beak (translucent like jade), which is even more precious. A short, thin beak with weak pecking ability indicates a female bird.
How do you raise the small songbird lark?
1. Choosing a birdcage
(1) A sufficiently large birdcage space is needed. Generally a round birdcage is used. A cage height of 40-50 cm and a cage diameter of about 40 cm is most suitable for a lark to live in.
(2) The birdcage should be fully equipped, with a food dish, drinking tools and a perch all present. The whole cage should also be easy to carry and look beautiful and elegant overall.
2. Feeding young birds
Larks kept in home cages are mostly young birds captured from wild grass and raised by hand. Captured young birds do not know how to eat on their own and need more than 20 days of careful hand-feeding before they will peck food by themselves. The main feed is bean flour and eggs, which must be carefully processed. The method is: stir-fry mung beans or peas until half-cooked, grind into fine flour, add 6—8 eggs per jin of flour, mix evenly and dry in the shade for storage, but avoid mold. When feeding the birds, mix an appropriate amount of egg flour with water and roll into strips, giving 1—2 large mouthfuls each time, 6—8 times a day. When the young birds peck food, put the prepared paste feed into the food dish. During this period, do not give water. After 3 months, switch to egg millet (generally mix 5 eggs per 500 grams of millet, stir evenly and dry in the shade, then rub apart), and provide plenty of water. To adapt to the lark's wild habits, spread 2—3 cm of fine sandy soil or dry loess in the cage, and continuously feed some insects to vary the diet.
3. Food and feeding
The main feed for adult larks is eggs and millet. In addition to the main feed, larks also need supplementary animal feed. Food prepared for larks should be nutritious, clean and fresh. Feed about 6-8 times a day, and the amount each time should not be too much; just ensure the lark eats until 80 percent full. If conditions permit, live insects can often be fed to the lark, such as earthworms, crickets and other insect foods. Every day, sufficient fresh drinking water should also be provided for the lark.
4. Bird training
Training a lark requires enough patience and a gentle temper. Training needs to start from the young bird stage, in a quiet place, and be carried out over the long term. During training, do not scold the lark; train patiently over and over again. Training for 1-2 hours a day is enough. Generally, after 3-5 months of training, the bird can fully master the training content.
5. Notes on raising larks
Raising a lark requires the owner to devote enough time and energy, taking comprehensive care of its diet and daily life. In spare time, the lark should also be trained so that it masters more skills and increases the bird's ornamental value.
Cage-kept larks must not only be carefully fed, but also require serious effort. Taming should begin from the young bird stage, and they must achieve the three fears: namely, not fearing various vehicles, not fearing various colors, and not fearing crowds watching. They should also be frequently trained to go up and down the phoenix platform, and taken outdoors for walks morning and evening to air the bird.