Horned Lark

Overview

Horned Lark: Medium-sized lark with pale or dark brown upperparts and white underparts. Face and throat are pale yellow to white and mask, cap, and ear tufts are black. Tail is dark with white edges. Forages on ground, usually in open fields. Eats seeds, grains, insects and small mollusks.

Range and Habitat

Horned Lark: Breeds in Alaska and Canadian Arctic, coastal Canada, and south throughout all of the U.S. except southeast. Spends winters from southern Canada southward; also found in Eurasia. Preferred habitats include plains, fields, airports, and beaches.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Horned Lark is the only member of the lark family that is native to the new world.
These birds return to their birthplace after every migration (a characteristic known as philopatric). Because of this, local populations have adapted to the color of their habitat resulting in 15 distinct subspecies in the West.
They are early nesters with nests found in February even in the northern states.
A group of larks has many collective nouns, including an "ascension", "chattering", "exaltation", "happiness", and "springul" of larks.

The Horned Lark has a large range, estimated globally at 10,000,000 square kilometers. Native to The Americas, Europe, and Asia, this bird prefers shrubland, grassland, and marine ecosystems. The global population of this bird is estimated at 140,000,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Horned Lark is Least Concern.