Horned lark

The specific alpestris is Latin and means "of the high mountains", from Alpes, the Alps.[2]

The horned lark was originally classified in the genus Alauda.

The horned lark Is suggested to have diverged from Temnick's lark around the Early-Middle Pleistocene, according to genomic divergence estimates.[3][4] The Horned lark is known from around a dozen localities of Late Pleistocene age, including those in Italy,[5] Russia, The United Kingdom and the United States. The earliest known fossil is from the Calabrian of Spain, around 1–0.8 million years old.[6] In 2020 a 46,000 year old frozen specimen was described from the Russian Far East.[7]

Recent genetic analysis has suggested that the species consists of six clades that in the future may warrant recognition as separate species.[3] A 2020 study also suggested splitting of the species, but into 4 species instead, the Himalayan Horned Lark E. longirostris, Mountain Horned Lark E. penicillata, Common Horned Lark E. alpestris (sensu stricto), alongside Temnick's Lark.[4]

A male at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, North Carolina, US

Unlike most other larks, this is a distinctive-looking species on the ground, mainly brown-grey above and pale below, with a striking black and yellow face pattern. Except for the central feathers, the tail is mostly black, contrasting with the paler body; this contrast is especially noticeable when the bird is in flight. The summer male has black "horns", which give this species its American name. North America has a number of races distinguished by the face pattern and back colour of males, especially in summer. The southern European mountain race E. a. penicillata is greyer above, and the yellow of the face pattern is replaced with white.

Measurements:[9]

• Length: 6.3-7.9 in (16-20 cm)
• Weight: 1.0-1.7 oz (28-48 g)
• Wingspan: 11.8-13.4 in (30-34 cm)

In British Columbia, Canada

Vocalizations are high-pitched, lisping or tinkling, and weak. The song, given in flight as is common among larks, consists of a few chips followed by a warbling, ascending trill.

A lark displaying its horns at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

The horned lark breeds across much of North America from the high Arctic south to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, northernmost Europe and Asia and in the mountains of southeast Europe. There is also an isolated population on a plateau in Colombia. It is mainly resident in the south of its range, but northern populations of this passerine bird are migratory, moving further south in winter.

This is a bird of open ground. In Eurasia it breeds above the tree line in mountains and the far north. In most of Europe, it is most often seen on seashore flats in winter, leading to the European name. In the UK it is found as a winter stopover along the coasts and in eastern England. In North America, where there are no other larks to compete with, it is also found on farmland, on prairies, in deserts, on golf courses and airports.

A nest with three chicks in the oil fields of Alberta, Canada

Males defend territories from other males during breeding season and females will occasionally chase away intruding females. Courting is composed of the male singing to the female while flying above her in circles. He then will fold his wings in and dive towards the female, opening his wings and landing just before hitting the ground.[10] The nest site is selected in the early spring by only the female and is either a natural depression in the bare ground or she digs a cavity using her bill and feet.[11] She will spend 2–4 days preparing the site before building her nest. She weaves fines grasses, cornstalks, small roots, and other plant material and lines it with down, fur, feathers, and occasionally lint. The nest totals to be about 3-4 inches in diameter with the interior diameter about 2.5 inches wide and 1.5 inches deep. It has been notes she often adds a “doorstep” of pebbles, corncobs, or dung on one side of the nest. The speculation is, it is used to cover the excavated dirt and hide her nest more.[12]

Females will lay a clutch of 2-5 gray eggs with brown spots, each about 1 inch long and half an inch wide. Incubation will take 10–12 days until hatching and then the nestling period will take 8–10 days. During the nestling period, the chick is fed and defended by both parents. The A female in the south can lay 2-3 broods a year while in the north, 1 brood a year is more common.[13]

The structure of Horned Lark nests can vary depending on the microclimate, prevailing weather and predation risk, revealing flexibility in nesting behaviour to adjust to changing environmental conditions to maintain nest survival and nestling size development.[14]

Horned Lark populations are declining according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. In 2016, the Partners in Flight Landbird Conservation Plan detailed the Horned Lark as a “Common Bird in Steep Decline,” but the Horned Lark as of 2016 is not on the State of North America’s Birds’ Watch List.[11] This species’ decline could be contributed to the loss of habitat due to agricultural pesticides, the disturbed sites the birds prefer reverting back to forested lands through reforestation efforts, urbanization and human encroachment as well as collisions with wind turbines.[12] In the open areas of western North America, horned larks are among the bird species most often killed by wind turbines.[15] In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the subspecies streaked horned lark as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.[16]

• van den Berg, Arnoud (2005) Morphology of Atlas Horned Lark Dutch Birding 27(4):256–8
• Small, Brian (2002) The Horned Lark on the Isles of Scilly Birding World 15(3): 111–20 (discusses a possible Nearctic race bird on the Isles of Scilly in 2001)
• Dickinson, E.C.; R.W.R.J. Dekker; S. Eck & S. Somadikarta (2001). "Systematic notes on Asian birds. 12. Types of the Alaudidae". Zool. Verh. Leiden. 335: 85–126.
• Seebohm, H (1884). "On the East-Asiatic Shore-Lark (Otocorys longirostris)". Ibis. 26 (2): 184–188. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1884.tb01153.x.
• Beason, Robert (1995). Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America. Ithaca, New York, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to the horned lark.

Wikispecies has information related to Eremophila alpestris.

• Picture – Cyberbirding
• Species account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• "Horned lark media". Internet Bird Collection.
• Horned lark – Eremophila alpestris – USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Horned lark photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
• Interactive range map of Eremophila alpestris at IUCN Red List maps