Horned Lark (HOLA)

Eremophila alpestris

Male Horned Lark  © Christoph Moning / Macaulay Library
Female Horned Lark  © Peter Candido / Macaulay Library

Range

Horned Larks breed throughout a large portion of North America generally from Arctic islands to the highlands of Mexico. They generally reside outside of Canada’s interior, preferring coastal, mountainous, or desert environments. During the winter season the northernmost populations move south into the U.S. and Mexico.

Additional Maps

Identification

Horned Larks are small songbirds with thin, straight bills. Male Horned Larks have a pale yellow belly and light brown upperparts with distinctive yellow faces and black breast and eye bands. Male Horned Larks also have tiny hornlike feathers for which they are named, which stick straight up on their heads. Females have paler coloration with a tan face and brown mask and breast bands.

Juvenile Horned Larks closely resemble adult female Horned Larks but are a dusty brown color with white edged feathers and light brown breast band. Horned Larks are early morning songsters, beginning their songs up to an hour and a half before sunrise. It is a sequence of fast high-pitched tinkling notes that rise in pitch to a jumble of concluding notes. These songs are only a few seconds long but may be repeated for over a minute. Horned Larks call most often in the fall and winter with a piercing one- to two-note chirp.

Listen to its songs and calls here.

Habitat

Horned Larks prefer large open areas of bare ground with little vegetation and avoid places where grass grows higher than a couple inches. Their most common habitats include prairies, tundras, beaches, deserts, dunes, and grazed or mowed fields. During migration, flocks of Horned Larks can be spotted along roadsides, feedlots, and in fields often mixing with other grassland species. In snowy areas, they can be seen foraging in the snow though they prefer barren areas.

Conservation Status 

  • Listed as Least Concern by Bird Life International
  • Listed as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
  • Listed as Secure by NatureServe Explorer
Status by State

Threats to Conservation

Horned Larks have experienced an annual decline of 2% between 1966 and 2019 which is an overall decline of 64%. Though they have remained numerous overall, their numbers have dropped specifically in certain areas. The factors behind this decline are largely unaccounted for, but commercial farming operations, human encroachment on land, and reforestation efforts are all likely suspects.

Funding Opportunities
General Management Guides
Regional Management Guides
Northeast
Resources
Works Cited