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The adult male Horned Lark has grayish-pink nape and uppertail; mantle and upperwings are grey faintly streaked. The top of forehead and elongate feathers of the crown ("horns") are black. The median forehead, supercilium and ear coverts are white (or sulphur-yellow on subspecies flava). The strip beginning on the low forehead and bill base and extending under the eye is black as the cheeks also. This strip can merge with the broad black breast-patch (on mountain race albigula) but can separated by the white area (on other races). The throat is white. The light parts of the head on flava subspecies may be not white but sulphur-yellow. The flight feathers are pale-brownish with narrow off-white edges on the outer webs. The narrow ended central pair of the tail feathers is brownish with paler edges of webs; the outer tail feathers are brownish with white outer webs; other ones are black. The breast under the black patch, abdomen and undertail are grayish-white. Females are paler than males; with faintly obvious "horns". The light parts are greyer, the streaks on upperparts are neater than on males; black parts on the forehead may be faintly obvious. The legs are black, the bill is blackish-brown with the yellow base of low mandible, eyes are brown. Juveniles in first plumage are grey brownish and whitish mottled above and whitish-grey below. The breast is dark-grey tinged with mottles. Sizes: males – wing 103.0-117.5, tail 65.0-85.0; females – wing 98.0-109.0, tail - 65.0-82.0 mm. Weight: 23.0-43.5 grams.

Biology

The Horned Lark is common, in some areas numerous, resident or winter visitor. Inhabits desert and semi-desert with stunted vegetation on clay or stony tracts of low mountains and hills, edges of saline pans, sandy areas on plains, and alpine steppe and meadow on alluvial fans near snowfields at altitude of 2000-4000 m in the Tien Shan mountains. During passage and in winter it prefers open habitats, roads, pastures, settlements and farms. In spring brandti pairs form late in March, while albigula pairs form later, from end of April to mid of May. Breeds in separate pairs not close to one another. Ground nest is built in shallow scrape under grass or stone shelter and made of dry grass and rootlets lined with soft grass and plenty of hair and vegetation fluff (such warm lining only in mountains). Clutches of 2-4 eggs are laid April – end June. Both parents (mostly female) incubate for 9-10 days, and feed juveniles, which fledge at 10-11 days old, at end May – mid July. Most pairs are double-brooded. Long breeding period can be explained by different phenology on plains and in highlands. For most of the year resident birds live in flocks of several dozen birds. Northern flava appear in autumn at end October – early November, and depart in March or April. Desert brandti winter on plains, whereas mountain albigula winter in foothills and low mountains.

References

"Птицы Казахстана" том 3. "Наука". Алма-Ата, 1970.
Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005.
Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999.