{"id":166438,"date":"2026-01-06T05:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T11:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=166438"},"modified":"2026-01-06T05:42:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T11:42:42","slug":"horned-lark-meet-the-2026-aba-bird-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/06\/horned-lark-meet-the-2026-aba-bird-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Horned Lark – Meet The 2026 ABA Bird Of The Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"EarlyEarly spring Horned Lark male on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/p>\n

Meet the Horned Lark, chosen by the American Birding Association as the 2026 ABA Bird of the Year<\/span><\/a>. A bold pick, and honestly a great one.<\/p>\n

This is a bird of wide open spaces, subtle beauty, and quiet toughness. Not flashy, not loud, but endlessly interesting once you slow down and really look. The little \u201chorns\u201d alone feel like a wink from nature.<\/p>\n

Marvelous choice, ABA. The Horned Lark is about to get the spotlight it has long deserved.<\/p>\n

\"WestWest Desert male Horned Lark on sagebrush<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeing, hearing, and photographing Horned Larks always brought me joy, even when they could be hard to find and point out at times.<\/p>\n

In Utah, Horned Larks were some of the earliest breeding birds I saw. They often began courting before the snow had completely melted. They are tough little birds.<\/p>\n

Horned Larks are birds of open country and are found in areas with lots of bare ground throughout North America.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be writing more about Horned Larks soon since they are the 2026 ABA Bird of the Year! I have plenty of photos of this species I haven\u2019t shared yet. I adore these little songbirds.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Horned Lark photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet the Horned Lark, chosen by the American Birding Association as the 2026 ABA Bird of the Year. A bold pick, and honestly a great one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,436,26],"tags":[17058,4004,58,3981,11978,4181,1327,6433,2136,4062,4104,165,30],"class_list":["post-166438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-horned-larks","category-utah","tag-2026-aba-bird-of-the-year","tag-adult","tag-antelope-island-sp","tag-davis-county","tag-desert-island","tag-eremophila-alpestris","tag-horned-lark","tag-lark","tag-larks-2","tag-male","tag-perched","tag-spring","tag-utah-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-2132.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Hiu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7880,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/17\/horned-lark-in-early-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":166438,"position":0},"title":"Horned Lark In Early Spring","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this male Horned Lark just two days ago and I'm tickled that I can see new growth of grasses in the frame.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Horned Lark fluffing in early morning light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-mia-mcpherson-1025.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-mia-mcpherson-1025.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-mia-mcpherson-1025.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-mia-mcpherson-1025.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8112,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/15\/great-horned-owls-and-horned-larks-birds-with-ear-tufts\/","url_meta":{"origin":166438,"position":1},"title":"Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks – Birds with Tufts","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks are species of birds that have tufts that I photograph regularly here in Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Great Horned Owl on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\u00a0","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-8239.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-8239.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-8239.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3290,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/10\/10\/prolonged-male-horned-lark-preening-session\/","url_meta":{"origin":166438,"position":2},"title":"Prolonged Male Horned Lark Preening Session","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I came across this very cooperative male Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris). This male bird preened for a full seven minutes and I took 256 images of it.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Horned Lark warms up, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-mia-mcpherson-2840.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-mia-mcpherson-2840.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-mia-mcpherson-2840.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-mia-mcpherson-2840.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45436,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/10\/male-horned-lark-territorial-behaviors\/","url_meta":{"origin":166438,"position":3},"title":"Male Horned Lark Territorial Behaviors – Tit-for-tat Chases","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The most interesting activities I saw yesterday were territorial behaviors and chases between two male Horned Larks in an open area of the park.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Territorial male Horned Lark simulating feeding, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-territorial-mia-mcpherson-2371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-territorial-mia-mcpherson-2371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-territorial-mia-mcpherson-2371.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-territorial-mia-mcpherson-2371.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51517,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/04\/horned-lark-stretching-his-left-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":166438,"position":4},"title":"Horned Lark Stretching His Left Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I like this photo for the eye contact, the fine details in the plumage of the bird, the stretched wing, light and how his one foot is raised, plus I think Horned Larks are beautiful songbirds.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Horned Lark stretching his left wing, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/horned-lark-male-stretching-mia-mcpherson-2867.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/horned-lark-male-stretching-mia-mcpherson-2867.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/horned-lark-male-stretching-mia-mcpherson-2867.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/horned-lark-male-stretching-mia-mcpherson-2867.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4458,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/21\/horned-lark-eating-sunflower-seeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":166438,"position":5},"title":"Horned Lark Eating Sunflower Seeds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I was delighted to be able to photograph this male Horned Lark perched high on dried sunflower seed heads as it ate.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State 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