Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. All species occur in the Old World, and in northern and eastern Australia. Only one, the horned lark, is native to North America. Habitats vary widely, but many species live in dry regions.

They have more elaborate calls than most birds, and often extravagant songs given in display flight. These melodious sounds (to human ears), combined with a willingness to expand into anthropogenic habitats — as long as these are not too intensively managed — have ensured larks a prominent place in literature and music, especially the Eurasian skylark in northern Europe and the crested lark and Calandra lark in southern Europe.

With these song flights, males defend their breeding territories and attract mates. Most species build nests on the ground, usually cups of dead grass, but in some species the nests are more complicated and partly domed. A few desert species nest very low in bushes, perhaps so circulating air can cool the nest.

Like many ground birds, most lark species have long hind claws, which are thought to provide stability while standing. Most have streaked brown plumage, some boldly marked with black or white. Their dull appearance camouflages them on the ground, especially when on the nest. They feed on insects and seeds. Many species dig with their bills to uncover food. Some larks have heavy bills (reaching an extreme in the thick-billed lark) for cracking seeds open, while others have long, down-curved bills, which are especially suitable for digging.

Larks are the only passerines that lose all their feathers in their first moult. This may result from the poor quality of the chicks' feathers, which in turn may result from the benefits to the parents of switching the young to a lower-quality diet (seeds), which requires less work from the parents.

Larks, commonly consumed with bones intact, have historically been considered wholesome, delicate, and light game. They can be used in a number of dishes, for example, they can be stewed, broiled, or used as filling in a meat pie. Lark's tongues were particularly highly valued. In modern times, shrinking habitats made lark meat rare and hard to come by, though it can still be found in restaurants in Italy and elsewhere in southern Europe.

The lark in mythology and literature stands for daybreak, as in Chaucer's "The Knight's Tale", "the bisy larke, mesager of day" and Shakespeare's Sonnet 29, "the lark at break of day arising / From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate". The lark is also (often simultaneously) associated with "lovers and lovers' observance" and with "church services" and often those the meanings of daybreak and religious reference are combined (in Blake's Visions of the Daughters of Albion, into a "spiritual daybreak") to signify "passage from Earth to Heaven and from Heaven to Earth". In Renaissance painters such as Domenico Ghirlandaio the lark symbolizes Christ, in reference to John 16:16.

Genus: Mirafra
Monotonous lark, Mirafra passerina
Singing bush lark, Mirafra cantillans
Horsfield's bush lark, Mirafra javanica
Melodious lark, Mirafra cheniana
White-tailed lark, Mirafra albicauda
Madagascan lark, Mirafra hova
Kordofan lark, Mirafra cordofanica
Williams's lark, Mirafra williamsi
Friedmann's lark, Mirafra pulpa
Red-winged lark, Mirafra hypermetra
Somali lark, Mirafra somalica
Ash's lark, Mirafra ashi
Angolan lark, Mirafra angolensis
Rufous-naped lark, Mirafra africana
Flappet lark, Mirafra rufocinnamomea
Cape clapper lark, Mirafra apiata
Eastern clapper lark, Mirafra fasciolata
Collared lark, Mirafra collaris
Indian bush lark or Red-winged Bushlark, Mirafra erythroptera
Indochinese bush lark, Mirafra erythrocephala
Burmese bush lark, Mirafra microptera
Gillett's lark, Mirafra gilletti
Degodi lark, Mirafra g. degodiensis
Bengal bush lark, Mirafra assamica
Jerdon's bush lark Mirafra affinis
Rusty bush lark, Mirafra rufa
Genus: Calendulauda
Foxy lark, Calendulauda alopex
Fawn-colored lark, Calendulauda africanoides
Pink-breasted lark, Calendulauda poecilosterna
Sabota lark, Calendulauda sabota
Dune lark, Calendulauda erythrochlamys
Karoo lark, Calendulauda albescens
Barlow's lark, Calendulauda barlowi
Red lark, Calendulauda burra
Genus: Pinarocorys
Rufous-rumped lark, Pinarocorys erythropygia
Dusky lark, Pinarocorys nigricans
Genus: Heteromirafra
Archer's lark, Heteromirafra archeri
Sidamo lark, Heteromirafra sidamoensis
Rudd's lark, Heteromirafra ruddi
Genus: Certhilauda
Cape long-billed lark, Certhilauda curvirostris
Algulhas long-billed lark, Certhilauda brevirostris
Eastern long-billed lark, Certhilauda semitorquata
Karoo long-billed lark, Certhilauda subcoronata
Benguela long-billed lark, Certhilauda benguelensis
Short-clawed lark, Certhilauda chuana
Genus: Chersomanes
Spike-heeled lark, Chersomanes albofasciata
Beesley's lark, Chersomanes beesleyi
Genus: Eremopterix
Black-eared sparrow-lark, Eremopterix australis
Chestnut-backed sparrow-lark, Eremopterix leucotis
Black-crowned sparrow-lark, Eremopterix nigriceps
Grey-backed sparrow-lark, Eremopterix verticalis
Chestnut-headed sparrow-lark, Eremopterix signata
Fischer's sparrow-lark, Eremopterix leucopareia
Ashy-crowned sparrow-lark, Eremopterix grisea
Genus: Ammomanes
Bar-tailed lark, Ammomanes cincturus
Rufous-tailed lark, Ammomanes phoenicurus
Desert lark, Ammomanes deserti
Gray's lark, Ammomanes grayi
Genus: Alaemon
Greater hoopoe-lark, Alaemon alaudipes
Lesser hoopoe-lark, Alaemon hamertoni
Genus: Ramphocoris
Thick-billed lark, Ramphocoris clotbey
Genus: Melanocorypha
Calandra lark, Melanocorypha calandra
Bimaculated lark, Melanocorypha bimaculata
Tibetan lark, Melanocorypha maxima
Mongolian lark, Melanocorypha mongolica
White-winged lark, Melanocorypha leucoptera
Black lark, Melanocorypha yeltoniensis
Genus: Calandrella
Greater short-toed lark, Calandrella brachydactyla
Blanford's lark, Calandrella blanfordi
Hume's short-toed lark, Calandrella acutirostris
Lesser short-toed lark, Calandrella rufescens
Red-capped lark, Calandrella cinerea
Asian short-toed lark, Calandrella cheleensis
Sand lark, Calandrella raytal
Somali short-toed lark, Calandrella somalica
Genus: Spizocorys
Pink-billed lark, Spizocorys conirostris
Botha's lark, Spizocorys fringillaris
Sclater's lark, Spizocorys sclateri
Obbia lark, Spizocorys obbiensis
Masked lark, Spizocorys personata
Stark's lark, Spizocorys starki
Genus: Eremalauda
Dunn's lark, Eremalauda dunni
Genus: Chersophilus
Dupont's lark, Chersophilus duponti
Genus: Galerida
Crested lark, Galerida cristata
Thekla lark, Galerida theklae
Malabar lark, Galerida malabarica
Sun lark, Galerida modesta
Sykes's lark, tawny lark or Sykes' crested lark, Galerida deva
Large-billed lark, Galerida magnirostris
Genus: Pseudalaemon
Short-tailed lark, Pseudalaemon fremantlii
Genus: Lullula
Woodlark, Lullula arborea
Genus: Alauda
Eurasian skylark, Alauda arvensis
Japanese skylark, Alauda japonica
Oriental skylark, Alauda gulgula
Raso lark, Alauda razae
Genus: Eremophila
Horned lark or shore lark, Eremophila alpestris
Temminck's lark, Eremophila bilopha