Photo Study Of Horned Larks At Oberly WMA, Alpha, NJ, January 23rd, 2011

    The Oberly Road WMA in Alpha had a Rough-legged Hawk today as well as several Northern Harriers, two dozen American Crows, lots of Savannah Sparrows and
    several hundred Canada Geese. I did not see any of the reported Snow Buntings or Lapland Longspurs. However, there were three flocks of 40-50 Horned Larks. So with the
    advantage of the bright sunshine,  I decided to put together a Photo Study of these beautiful little birds as they foraged for spent corn in the fields or when they took
    occasional snow baths despite the 18 °F air.

    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 are 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 some insects as well. (Cornell BNA; Wikipedia; Sibley Guide To Birds)

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

  © Howard B. Eskin 2011          Please click here to email your comments to <hbeskin@voicenet.com>        Please click here to go back to Bird Webpage Index