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The UK Bird Atlas

Shore Lark (Eremophila alpestris)Where and when to see it in the UK

Winter visitor · reporting peaks January · Larks · BOU category AF

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Shore Lark (Eremophila alpestris)
USFWS Mountain-Prairie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Shore Lark: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Shore Lark has been recorded in 138 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (5%) in records to 2026. Winter visitor in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in January.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
100% or more of visits
High
3% to 100%
Moderate
<1% to 3%
Low
under <1%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 90%<1%High
February 84%<1%High
March 24%<1%Low
April 11%<1%Very high
May 3%<1%Low
June 0%<1%Very high
July 1%<1%Very high
August 0%<1%Moderate
September 1%<1%Low
October 63%<1%Low
November 100%<1%Moderate
December 75%<1%High

Squares with the highest reporting rate in January

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
NT68East Lothian, Scotland100%Very high
NZ43County Durham, England100%Very high
SD26Westmorland and Furness, England100%Very high
SD70Bolton, England100%Very high
SJ08Denbighshire, Wales100%Very high
SJ18Flintshire, Wales100%Very high
SJ85Staffordshire, England100%Very high
ST69South Gloucestershire, England100%Very high
TG41Norfolk, England100%Very high
TM01Essex, England100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.