Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris Linnaeus       Field Guide IDs: NG-320; G-218; PE-200; PW-pl 54; AE-pl 556; AW-pl 603; AM(II)-296 Nest Location Nest Type Eggs & Mating System Dev. & Parental Care Primary & 2ndary Diet.. Foraging Strategy F I: 11-12 DAYS ALTRICIAL F 3-4 (2-5) MONOG F: 9-12 DAYS MF INSECTS BREEDING: Open country, tundra, grassland, agricultural areas. 1 brood in n, 2 (3?) in s. DISPLAYS: Male performs elaborate song-flight: rises to 800', circles, then dives to ground with wings folded. Male struts before female with erect horns and drooped wings. NEST: In shallow depression, lined with roots, grass, plant down, hair, often with rim of pebbles or dirt clods on most exposed side. Female selects nest site. EGGS: Variable, gray, greenish, heavily speckled with brown. 0.8" (22 mm). DIET: Includes spiders, snails; grass and forb seeds. CONSERVATION: Winters s to S.A. Uncommon cowbird host. Adoption of farm fields for breeding has greatly increased numbers and expanded range eastward since 1800, although farming operations destroy many nests. NOTES: Female may fly low and far from nest when intruder detected, or perform fluttering distraction display if intruder is close. Female renests ca. 7 days after brood fledges. Juveniles form postbreeding flocks. Winter flocks, often immense, occ with Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs. STANFORD. NOTES: This ground-nester is an uncommon resident in grasslands at the Dish, occasionally foraging in the dry bed of Lagunita in fall, before it is filled by winter rains. ESSAYS: Bathing and Dusting; Walking vs. Hopping; Distraction Displays; Range Expansion; Mixed-Species Flocking. REFERENCES: Beason and Franks, 1974; Hurley and Franks, 1976; Wiens et al., 1986.