Horned Lark

Eremophila alpestrisOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Larks (Alaudidae)

Codes: Common Name: HOLA Scientific Name: EREALP ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178402

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Horned Lark (enthymia) Breeding Male Portrait

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Horned Lark

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.

● Song: "pit-wit,wee-pit,pit-wee", "tsee-tete", "zeet"

● Foraging & Feeding: Horned Lark: Eats mostly seeds, insects, and small mollusks; forages in agricultural areas, often standing and walking on roadways.

● Breeding & nesting: Horned Lark: Two to five gray or green eggs spotted with brown are laid in a nest made of grass lined with feathers and soft materials and built in a shallow depression, natural or dug by the female. Incubation ranges from 11 to 12 days and is carried out mostly by the female.

● Similar species: Horned Lark: American Pipit has gray upperparts, brown-streaked white underparts, dark gray-brown tail with white outer tail feathers, and lacks horns and black bib.

Flight Pattern

After each wing beat folds wing feathers close to body.

Horned Lark (enthymia) Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & 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.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1.1 Ounces

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Horned Lark

Horned Lark

Flight Pattern