Eremophila alpestris
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The horned lark or shore lark (Eremophila alpestris) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found across the northern hemisphere. It is known as "horned lark" in North America for distinctive feathers on the heads of the male birds in summer, and as "shore lark" in Europe because it can be found on shorelines in the winter.
The horned lark was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Alauda alpestris. Linnaeus based his account on the description and illustration by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands that was published between 1729 and 1732. Linnaeus specified the type locality as North America but this has been restricted to the coastal areas of South Carolina. The horned lark is now placed together with Temminck's lark in the genus Eremophila that was introduced in 1828 by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie. The specific epithet alpestris is Latin meaning "of the high mountains", from Alpes, the Alps. A molecular genetic study of the Alaudidae published in 2023 found that Temminck's lark (Eremophila... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 2 | Beijing Zoo | 🇨🇳 China |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Horned Lark sighting in Novosibirsk on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 100th most-seen of the 123 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Horned Lark in Novosibirsk on a given day, against under 5% in December to August, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Horned Lark sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 26 cities where we can rate Horned Lark sightings, Novosibirsk ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in San Diego (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Horned Lark is recorded against all the birds logged in Novosibirsk (8 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
