Wild Guide: Horned Lark

Wild Guide: Horned Lark

Eremophila alpestris

Horned larks prefer areas with extensive bare ground. Look for them in plowed agricultural regions, where they prefer to nest before vegetation has a chance to grow tall. Their camouflaged upperparts make them inconspicuous, but they often occur in flocks, and their movement against the ground, and their distinctively marked faces and “horns,” can help you see them. Their song is a soft twittering and tinkling sound, usually delivered in flight. Their call is a lisping tsee or tzee-te-te.

Like other ground nesters, horned larks lose many young to predators such as raccoons, skunks, and weasels. Females avoid drawing attention to the nest. If a predator does draw too near, they perform a distraction display similar to the “broken-wing act” of killdeer.