Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
THE SONG BIRDS
THE LARKS
Horned Larks
The only native representatives of the family in the New World are the Horned Larks (Otocoris), which are easily distinguished by the short, stout, somewhat conoid bill, and a narrow, elongated tuft or”horn”of feathers springing from each side of the head, while in coloration they are mixed brown, rufous, cinnamon, pinkish, yellowish, white, and black. Occurring over practically the whole of North America and Mexico, the Horned Larks are also found throughout most of Europe and Asia, as well as northern Africa, the twenty or more American forms all being regarded as geographic races of a single species (O. alpestris), at least two forms of which are present in the Old World as well. With the possible exception of the Song Sparrows (Melo-spiza) there are no other North American birds having such a plastic constitution as these, and as a result some of the forms appear to intergrade with several — sometimes as many as five — others, and curiously enough it is not always contiguous races that are most closely related. This condition is perhaps largely accounted for by the fact that, being largely graminivorous, they are mainly stationary, only the more northern forms migrating and these somewhat erratically. Their adaptability to climatic and physiographic conditions is very great, since they”are found from the shores of the Arctic Ocean to the heart of the tropics; from the level of the sea to the summits of lofty mountains; and from regions of excessive rainfall to the most arid deserts. They are preeminently birds of the open country, rarely if ever venturing into the depths of the forests, for the grassy savannas, cultivated fields, country roadsides, the bare or bushy deserts, and the stony slopes of mountains are habitats much more to their taste.”— Oberholser.