{"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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"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":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t