# Crested lark (*Galerida cristata*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/crested-lark  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The crested lark (Galerida cristata), also called the Maghreb lark, is a bird in the group of songbirds and other perching birds, belonging to the order Passeriformes and the family Alaudidae. It is a small bird with a representative adult body mass of 42.7 g, and our sources report adult weights from 42.1 to 44.4 g. The crested lark is a sedentary, terrestrial omnivore of grassland habitats, with a geographic range of 24,390,000 km². It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category, and it reaches sexual maturity at 1 year.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 42.1 g – 44.4 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 8.79 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 11.6 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | grassland |
| Young per litter or clutch | 3.9 – 4.28 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 2 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Alaudidae
- genus: Galerida
- species: *Galerida cristata* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Alauda cristata*, *Galerida cristata plumata*, *Heterops cristatus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the crested lark?

The crested lark is a bird in the group of songbirds and other perching birds. It belongs to the order Passeriformes and the family Alaudidae.

### How much does a crested lark weigh?

An adult Crested lark has a representative body mass of 42.7 g, with our sources reporting from 42.1 to 44.4 g.

### What does the crested lark eat?

The crested lark is an omnivore.

### What habitat does the crested lark live in?

The crested lark lives in grassland. It is terrestrial and sedentary.

### Is the crested lark endangered?

No. The crested lark is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a crested lark live?

The crested lark has a lifespan of 8.8 years, and our sources report values up to 11.6 years.

### How many eggs does the crested lark lay?

The crested lark lays 4.3 eggs per clutch and has 2 clutches per year. It reaches sexual maturity at 1 year.

### Who named the crested lark?

The crested lark, Galerida cristata, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Crested lark (Galerida cristata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/crested-lark