{"id":4458,"date":"2012-02-21T05:09:24","date_gmt":"2012-02-21T12:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4458"},"modified":"2026-01-06T13:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:51:15","slug":"horned-lark-eating-sunflower-seeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/21\/horned-lark-eating-sunflower-seeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Horned Lark Eating Sunflower Seeds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Usually I see Horned Larks\u00a0eating on the ground which presents the photographic challenges of trying to obtain an image without some type of vegetation in the foreground obstructing parts of the bird which can be frustrating.<\/p>\n

\"Male Male Horned Lark eating sunflower seeds –\u00a0Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I was delighted\u00a0to be\u00a0able to photograph this male Horned Lark perched high on dried sunflower seed heads as it ate.<\/p>\n

I always see far more male Horned Larks<\/span><\/a> than females and I continue to wonder why. Perhaps the females stay more hidden in the grasses while the males prefer to be perched higher to sing.<\/p>\n

Territorial disputes have started to occur here in Utah with the males chasing each other in flight then the victor sings from a perch. I suspect that over the next few weeks I will have plenty of opportunities with these lovely birds.<\/p>\n

Spring is in the air.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday I was delighted to be able to photograph this male Horned Lark perched high on dried sunflower seed heads as it ate. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166465,"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":[511,27,1022,436,26],"tags":[4004,11978,4286,4181,1327,6433,2136,156,4062,2135,1275,1166,4307,373,5063],"class_list":["post-4458","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-adult","tag-desert-island","tag-eating","tag-eremophila-alpestris","tag-horned-lark","tag-lark","tag-larks-2","tag-low-light-2","tag-male","tag-seeds","tag-sunflower-seeds","tag-wild-sunflower","tag-wildflowers","tag-winter","tag-yellow-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-eating-mia-mcpherson-4600.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-19U","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4576,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/02\/female-horned-lark-and-a-long-tailed-duck-friday-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":4458,"position":0},"title":"Female Horned Lark And A Long-tailed Duck ~ Friday Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It snowed last night and the ground here was covered in white but the clouds were disappearing so off I went to photograph whatever I might find on Antelope Island State 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":"Female Horned Lark balancing on a sunflower seed head, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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McPherson","date":"January 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks are birds that I enjoy photographing all year long in Utah and yesterday they gave me some wonderful opportunities.","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":"Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-6550.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/western-meadowlark-mia-mcpherson-6550.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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perched on rocks or boulders, this one is perched on a dried pile of Bison poop. Some might think this is a crappy perch and they would be right!","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 bison pooh perch, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-poop-mia-mcpherson-9029.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-poop-mia-mcpherson-9029.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-poop-mia-mcpherson-9029.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Birds & Wildflowers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph a male Horned Lark on Antelope Island State Park that included Redstem Filaree in the photos and I was delighted, that pop of bright color sure says \"spring\" to me.","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 in Redstem Filaree, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-red-stem-filaree-mia-mcpherson-7605.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-red-stem-filaree-mia-mcpherson-7605.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 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