Horned Lark

Horned Lark, adult, male

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Horned Lark, juvenile, Colorado, July

Horned Lark, female at nest

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Reproduction
9. Conservation Status
10. Other Names

The only true lark native to North America, the Horned Lark is a common, widespread bird of open country.

Cool Facts

• Adult Horned Larks eat primarily weed and grass seeds, but they feed insects to their young.
• The use of mowed areas around airstrips has allowed the Horned Lark to colonize regions where no other suitable habitat may exist nearby, such as heavily forested areas.

Description

• Size: 16-20 cm (6-8 in)
• Wingspan: 30-34 cm (12-13 in)
• Weight: 28-48 g (0.99-1.69 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Pale brown back.
• Black chest patch.
• Black face patch.
• Yellow or pale throat.
• Small "horns" on top of head.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, but female slightly smaller and duller.

Immature

Juvenile sparrow-like, with pale spots on back and streaks on chest. Immature shows face pattern, but fainter than adult.

Similar Species

• American Pipit lacks black markings and horns.
• Longspurs have shorter tail with more white on outer edge, and lack horns.

Sound

Song a series of high, musical tinkling notes. Call a single or double-syllable notes, "weet" or "su-weet."

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Summer Range

Breeds across North America from Alaska and the Canadian arctic southward to northern Georgia, Louisiana, and Mexico. Also across Eurasia and locally in Colombia and Morocco.

Winter Range

Winters in southern part of breeding range from southern Canada southward. Also in Eurasia.

Habitat

Open, barren country. Prefers bare ground to short grasses.

Food

Seeds, some insects.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest a basket woven of fine grass or other plant materials, lined with finer material, placed in depression or cavity in ground.

Egg Description

Pale gray with brown spots.

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Helpless and covered in buffy down.

Conservation Status

Declining in most of range.

Other Names

Alouette hausse-col, L'Alouette cornue, Alouette bilophe (French)
Alondra cornuda (Spanish)
Shore Lark (British) (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Beason, R. C. 1995. Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris). In The Birds of North America, No. 195 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists Union, Washington, D.C.