HornedLark12

Photo Study Of Horned Larks And American Pipits At Maple Knolls Farms, Bucks County, PA, January 22, 2012

    Richard and Vicky Smith, who live at Maple Knolls Farms in Buckingham, PA, have been hosts to a Say's Phoebe for the past month. I birded
    their property and that of their neighbor across the road today with Richard. We covered a lot of territory but could not find the Phoebe. We
    figure that the cold weather and snow have finally cut down the availability of insects, so that the Phoebe has probably moved on. However, we
    did find lots of Horned Larks and American Pipits enjoying the spent grain in the excess feed Richard spread out on one of his snow-covered
    cornfields. Believe me, we did our best to find a Lapland Longspur among the Larks and Pipits but, alas, no luck. However, we did see but could
    not photograph a Peregrine Falcon, an Eastern Screech Owl, two Bald Eagles, a Cooper's Hawk, several Red-tailed Hawks, thirty or so Black and
    Turkey Vultures, forty American and thirty Fish Crows, seventy plus European Starlings and many, many Juncos and Savannah Sparrows.
                                                                           Nevertheless, here are some of today's photos:

Horned Lark

American Pipit

Horned Lark

American Pipit

American Pipit

Savannah Sparrow

Horned Lark

   The only true lark native to North America, the Horned Lark is a common, widespread
   bird of open country. The Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) is a small songbird
   (7 1/4 inches long; 12 inch wingspan) with a dark facial mask and a dark breast band.
   The 'horns' are two little tufts of black feathers on the head. Horned Larks are found
   around the world, with a great number of subspecies. Horned Larks have reddish-
   brown upperparts streaked with dark brown, pale underparts, and a yellow face and
   breast. Females are duller in coloration with a whitish face and breast. Immatures
   dark with light spots. Overhead, the dark tail with narrow white edges is evident. The
   Horned Lark breeds across much of North America as well as in the high Arctic. It
   migrates as far south as southern Mexico. Horned Larks eat mostly seeds of grasses,
   weeds and waste grain but feed insects to their young. Adults consume insects as well.
                                                    (Cornell BNA; Wikipedia; Sibley Guide To Birds)

American Pipit

   The American Pipit (Anthus rubescens) is a small (6.5 inches long; 10.5 wingspan) slender,
   drab bird of open country. Although it appears similar to sparrows, it can be distinguished
   by its thin bill and its habit of bobbing its tail. Males and females look alike. They are
   slender, with gray-brown backs and buff-colored breasts. The Pipit also has a distinctive    white ring around its eyes. During the breeding season, their breasts may be streaked
   or unstreaked, but outside the breeding season, they are typically more heavily streaked.
   They can be found throughout North America at some point during the year, nesting in the    far north and at higher elevations in the west in summer. They migrate throughout much
   of the continent in spring and fall, and winter in the southern U.S. and near the coasts. Its
   diet consists mostly of insects, such as flies, grasshoppers, ants, moths, caterpillars and
   beetles. Pipits also eat spiders as well as grass and weed seeds. The American Pipit was    formerly known as the "Water Pipit".
                                                   (Cornell BNA; Wikipedia; Sibley Guide To Birds)

To see a larger image of any of the photos below, please click on either the thumbnail or the caption...thanks!


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