Eremophila alpestris
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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 San Diego on a given day, based on 2,704 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 108th most-seen of the 386 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Horned Lark in San Diego on a given day, against under 5% in April, the lowest month.
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.
Yes
Of the 26 cities where we can rate Horned Lark sightings, San Diego has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Novosibirsk (Russia, about 10%) and Mexico City (México, under 5%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Horned Lark that you can see in San Diego (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are American Crow (about 80%), House Finch (about 80%) and Black Phoebe (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Horned Lark is recorded against all the birds logged in San Diego (2,704 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.
