nature – Permaculture as a Path to Peace

Last week, with Alex, we had the chance to observe a Balkan horned lark (Eremophila alpestris balcanica), at what we call “the rock”. The place is actually called Prilepac or Odžin Kamen, and from there we can even see the Shar Mountains.

But let’s talk more about horned larks, called like this because of the small black “horns” made of feathers that they bear on their heads.

Horned lark is a small species of bird which has a very large distribution: it can be found in Europe, in Asia, in North America, in North Africa and even in some parts of the Andes! The horned larks that live in Kosovo are from a particular population, called subspecies, that lives only in the Balkans (from Croatia to Greece to Romania). They breed in mountain pastures and rocky areas from 1000 m to 2500 m. There, the female Horned Lark selects a natural depression on bare ground, or excavate one, and then weave a nest from grass and other plants materials. In fact, they spend a lot of time on the ground, walking or running over open ground as they search for seeds and insects, their mains foods items. They don’t migrate, contrary to the populations living in Scandinavia, but can be found at lower altitudes during winter, where they go to find more food.

In the Balkans, Horned lark as a disjunct distribution. It is considered as a rare breeder in Serbia. Unfortunately, data is lacking for Kosovo, but the situation is probably similar.

Whereas the Bulgarian population is stable, the Serbian population of Horned lark is rapidly declining. Horned lark is also declining at lower altitude, perhaps because of climate change. Disappearance of traditional livestock farming (who maintain meadows open and rich in insects) is also considered as one of the main threats. Due to lack of monitoring, the trend of horned lark in Kosovo is unknown.

At our small scale, we will try to improve the knowledge about horned larks in Kosovo: is there a breeding population of horned larks in Bozevce? Or, as it is most likely, are horned larks coming here only during winter to find food? The answer, next spring!

Sources :

Beason, R. C. (2020). Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.horlar.01

Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Anton, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M.V., Bauer, H.-G. & Foppen, R.P.B. (2020). European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Bird Census Council & Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Rašajski, J. (2017). Sve Ptice Srbije (3rd Ed.), Laguna.

Hi ! I’m Jules and I’m volunteering for GAIA organization for one year in Bozevce. I’m also a “naturalist”, meaning someone who studies animal and plant life, notably by going to the field to inventory biodiversity. During my stay here, I will share with you my observations of the biodiversity of Bozevce.

When winter comes, animals use different strategies to resist the cold and to find their food. Some species, notably birds, migrate towards south or towards lower elevation in order to find more food and warmer conditions. Others store fat, then hibernate until spring returns.

But some others species continue to be active troughout winter : it’s the case of fox (Vulpes vulpes), hare (Lepus europaeus), and to a lesser extent, badger (Meles meles).

In winter, foxes’ coats are denser, and they also have fur on their legs which allows them to resist the cold and snow. To feed, the fox will mainly hunt rodents and rabbits, using hearing to detect them under the snow or in their burrows. The fox will also hide some of its prey to consume it later.

Hares will also modify their alimentation and eat twigs, buds and bark when their usual food, grass and herbs, become scarce or unavailable. Badgers, on the other hand, don’t hibernate but greatly reduce their activities during winter. They will survive on their fat store made during autumn, and on earthworms, that they find while burrowing in the unfrozen ground.

These three species are present in Bozevce and we use camera traps to record them. A camera trap is a camera that is automatically triggered when something move in front of it. It’s a very useful device because it operate continually and silently, provide proof of species present in an area, and don’t disturb wildlife.

To finish on a less optimistic notes, climate change disturbs and modifies strategies of animals and plants to cope with winter: some species don’t migrate anymore, invasive species are better able to survive winter and to spread to new areas, food webs are disrupted and out of sync because plants bloom too early or insects emerge too early, some species even die from cold or hunger because less snow (which protect species that hibernate from cold) means more rain, which can block access to food when it freeze…

Tag: nature

Horned lark, a rare bird threatened by climate change

Biodiversity of Bozevce