10,000 Birds

When Mike, Corey, and I were wandering around in the midst of the heaviest snow-storm to hit New York since - er, the last Ice Age probably, we went to Jones Beach on Long Island hoping to find Horned Larks and Snow Buntings. By the time we got there the sleet was coming down like hypodermic needles and we really didn’t expect to see very much, but we braved the boardwalk just in case - and were rewarded with truly amazing views of an adult Horned Lark scrabbling about in the snow for grass seeds. I’ve certainly never been so close to this species and it was a wonderful opportunity to really study one.

It’s presumably one of the eastern North American races - perhaps alpestris? (globally there are about 36 races depending upon which authority you choose extending right the way across Europe, North Africa, Asia and North America, with one form also found in South America). From a European perspective this is interesting because it’s this form (or the very similar hoyti) that is the one that’s thought to very occasionally cross the Atlantic. Compared with the birds I see in the UK most years (which is not nearly often enough to be honest), the Jones Beach bird was very strongly coloured and (perhaps I’m imagining this) seemed to have a heavier bill. As it has “horns” this bird is obviously an adult but I was slightly surprised to see that it clearly has a quite restricted amount of yellow in the face: it has a yellow throat, but it only has yellow above the bill and in front of the eye - from above the eye backwards the yellow is replaced by off-white (which as far as I can gather is not a feature of alpestris or hoyti and is actually closer to western prairie races!).

I’ve not seen many eastern North American Horned Larks, and certainly none this well - is this normal for this part of the range does anyone know, as many Guides and websites seem to suggest that northern Horned Larks should have completely yellow “brows”? I would imagine local Long Island birders would have the answers, so should any of them be reading this would you be good enough to leave a comment…

I’d also be very interested to hear from anyone with more experience than me of Horned Lark if they think it is actually possible to assign this individual to a race (presumably based on range?).