Beard Lichen vs Feldlerche

Usnea subscabrosa compared with Alauda arvensis

Key Differences

• Beard Lichen is Not Evaluated while Feldlerche is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Beard Lichen	Feldlerche
Kingdom	Fungi (Pilze)	Animalia (Tier)
Phylum	Ascomycota (Schlauchpilze)	Chordata (Chordatiere)
Class	Lecanoromycetes (Lecanoromycetes)	Aves (Vögel)
Order	Lecanorales (Lecanorales)	Passeriformes (Sperlingsvögel)
Family	Parmeliaceae	Alaudidae
Genus	Usnea	Alauda
Species	Usnea subscabrosa	Alauda arvensis

Conservation Status

Beard Lichen

NE — Not Evaluated

Feldlerche

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Beard Lichen	Feldlerche
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Beard Lichen

Habitat

Native to Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Norway, Portugal, and United States.

Feldlerche

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, tundra, and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests spanning the Australasia and Oceanian realms.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (5 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Beard Lichen

The Beard Lichen (Usnea subscabrosa) is a species in the genus Usnea. Native to Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Feldlerche

Celebrated across European literature and poetry for its complex, melodious song sung on the wing during spectacular display flights, Eurasian skylarks soar vertically hundreds of meters above open farmland, grassland, and heathland across Europe and Asia while producing an uninterrupted torrent of song lasting up to an hour. Males can produce over 700 distinct song phrases. Once enormously abundant across European farmland, skylark populations have declined over 70% since 1970 due to agricultural intensification.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇺🇸 United States