Bird field guide > Bird identification [K-L] > Lark, Horned bird pictures

Lark, Horned bird pictures

HORNED LARK
474. Otocoris alpestris. 7.75 inches

This variety, which is larger than its sub-species, is only found in the U.S. in winter, but several of the sub-species are residents in our limits. During the mating season they have a sweet song that is uttered on the wing, like that of the Bobolink.

Note. - Alarm note and call a whistled "tseet," "tseet", song a low, sweet, and continued warble.

Nest. - A hollow in the ground lined with grass; placed in fields and usually partially concealed by an overhanging sod or stone. The three to five eggs have a grayish ground color and are profusely specked and blotched with gray and brownish (.85 x .60).

Range. - Breeds in Labrador and about Hudson Bay; south in winter to South Carolina and Illinois.
Sub-Species:
474b. Prairie Horned Lark (praticola). A paler form usually with the line over the eye white, found in the Mississippi Valley.
474c. Desert Horned Lark (leucolaema). Paler and less distinctly streaked above than the Prairie; found west of the Mississippi and north to Alberta.