Horned Lark

The Horned Lark is a small, ground-dwelling songbird of wide-open country, found across North America, Europe, and Asia. It is named for the small black feather tufts on the crown that can be raised like tiny horns, though they are often hard to see in the field.

Adults show a black mask and breast band set against a pale face, with yellow or whitish tones around the throat and eyebrow depending on subspecies. The upperparts are brown to grayish-brown, streaked, and cryptically patterned to blend with bare soil. Horned Larks walk (rather than hop) across open ground in short, quick steps, often in loose flocks outside the breeding season.

Key field marks

• Black "sideburn" and breast-band markings on a pale face
• Tiny black feather horns on the crown (often inconspicuous)
• Brown, streaky upperparts that blend with bare or sparse ground
• Black tail with white outer edges, visible in flight
• Walks rather than hops on open ground

Similar species

No other widespread North American songbird shares the combination of facial black markings and habit of walking on completely open ground. Longspurs and pipits can occur in similar habitat but lack the black face pattern and horns.

Habitat

Horned Larks favor the barest, most open ground available: plowed fields, short-grass prairie, airports, gravel roadsides, alpine and arctic tundra, and coastal dunes and beaches.

Range

One of the most widespread lark species in the world, breeding across much of North America (including arctic tundra), Eurasia, and parts of North Africa and South America (in the Andes). Northern and high-elevation populations migrate or move to lower ground in winter, while many populations in temperate latitudes are year-round residents.

Behavior

Highly terrestrial, Horned Larks spend nearly all their time walking on the ground foraging, forming loose winter flocks that often mix with longspurs and snow buntings in open farm country.

Voice

The song is a thin, tinkling series of high notes, often delivered during a spectacular display flight in which the male climbs high into the sky before diving. Calls include a high, lisping "tsee-titi."

Feeding and nesting

Diet consists of seeds year-round, with insects added heavily during the breeding season, especially to feed nestlings. The nest is a simple grass-lined depression scraped directly into bare soil, often placed beside a small stone or clump of dirt that offers minimal shelter. Horned Larks are among the earliest songbirds to nest each spring in northern latitudes.