{"id":38803,"date":"2016-04-26T06:28:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T12:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=38803"},"modified":"2025-05-16T07:40:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T12:40:25","slug":"a-few-lark-sparrow-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/04\/26\/a-few-lark-sparrow-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"Lark Sparrow Facts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Lark Sparrow – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

First I have to say that I am very fond of Lark Sparrows, I love the harlequin pattern on their face but I also love hearing their songs whether I see them or not. I thought I would share a few Lark Sparrow facts, a sound recording and of course an image of a Lark Sparrow on the ground.<\/p>\n

Here is a recording of a Lark Sparrow singing<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

When I am on Antelope Island this time of the year I hear their calls and songs all over the island but mostly where there is sagebrush and rabbitbrush.<\/p>\n

Larks Sparrows are the only members of the genus Chondestes<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Currently their breeding range is shrinking but that is because of reforestation and urbanization in the east. Their historical range expanded because because lands were cleared for agriculture and Lark Sparrows prefer open habitat like grasslands, fields, pastures, farmlands, and roadsides.<\/p>\n

Lark Sparrows often take over old Sage Thrasher or Northern Mockingbird nests instead of building their own. That may or may not be a way of saving energy during the breeding season, I am not sure. There have been reports though of finding Lark Sparrow eggs mixed in with thrasher and mockingbird eggs in nests which suggests that they share their nest with another species.<\/p>\n

Lark Sparrows walk on the ground instead of hopping like other passerines and the only time they do hop on the ground is during courtship. The males even strut like turkeys during courtship. Another courting behavior that is unique to Lark Sparrows is that the male will pass a small twig to the female right before copulation.<\/p>\n

They are primarily found in the western parts of Canada and the U.S. during the breeding season but can be found as far east as Ohio, Tennessee and the most northwestern tip of Georgia.<\/p>\n

I have been hearing Lark Sparrows for a few weeks now and have seen them on the ground or up on top of the rocks on Antelope Island but I haven’t gotten any high quality images of them yet this year. They are only here for a few months but hopefully I will photograph some soon.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Lark Sparrow photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought I would share a few Lark Sparrow facts, a sound recording and of course an image of a Lark Sparrow on the ground. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,1465,26],"tags":[4004,10641,4372,4098,5114,10642,9070,1539,4289,5743,4735,855,4195,165],"class_list":["post-38803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-lark-sparrows","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-breeding-range","tag-chondestes-grammacus","tag-desert","tag-facts","tag-harlequin-pattern","tag-island","tag-lark-sparrow","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-recording","tag-song","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/lark-sparrow-ground-mia-mcpherson-2862.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-a5R","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46365,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/18\/lark-sparrow-with-an-ant-on-antelope-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":38803,"position":0},"title":"Lark Sparrow with an Ant on Antelope Island","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The day I photographed this Lark Sparrow with an ant on the boulder right next to it the light wasn't the best for bird photography but when I reviewed the images and saw the ant I knew I had to keep this photo.","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":"Lark Sparrow with an ant, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-with-ant-mia-mcpherson-2369.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-with-ant-mia-mcpherson-2369.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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very cooperative bird too!","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":"Perched Lark Sparrow, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-mia-mcpherson-9201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-mia-mcpherson-9201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-mia-mcpherson-9201.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-mia-mcpherson-9201.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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