{"id":56804,"date":"2019-03-24T06:52:24","date_gmt":"2019-03-24T12:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=56804"},"modified":"2026-01-08T17:50:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T23:50:42","slug":"singing-male-horned-lark-and-the-great-salt-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/03\/24\/singing-male-horned-lark-and-the-great-salt-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Singing Male Horned Lark And The Great Salt Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SingingSinging Horned Lark and the Great Salt Lake – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Horned Larks are year round residents in northern Utah so there are times that I am puzzled when I see people who are in the field often say as late as February or March that they have seen their first of year Horned Larks.<\/p>\n

The reason I am puzzled is because I see these larks in the highest abundance<\/span><\/a> here during December through February when they form large flocks that number in the hundreds that fly over and forage on snow covered flats, parking areas, roadsides, pastures, agricultural fields, foothills, deserts, and areas with bare ground.<\/p>\n

Usually their flight calls<\/span><\/a> clue me in on their presence and my eyes follow my ears to locate them.<\/p>\n

The time of year I see them in the lowest numbers is when they are raising their young which is most likely because they and their young can blend into their habitat very easily.<\/p>\n

From February through May I typically see lots of males singing<\/span><\/a> from the tops of rocks, boulders, shrubs, stumps and from the ground to attract the females. Horned Larks can start breeding as early as February and can have multiple broods per season so the males are more visible as they seek to find mates to breed with.<\/p>\n

I was thrilled to photograph this singing male Horned Lark last week because he was high up on a boulder with the Great Salt Lake below and behind him since I don’t have many images of this species with the lake in the background. I hope he found a mate.<\/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":"

I was thrilled to photograph this singing male Horned Lark last week because he was high up on a boulder with the Great Salt Lake below and behind him since I don’t have many images of this species with the lake in the background.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166632,"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":[511,27,1022,1144,436,26],"tags":[4004,4138,11978,4181,5114,4005,1327,6854,6433,2136,4062,4179,373,7026],"class_list":["post-56804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-great-salt-lake-utah","category-horned-larks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-boulder","tag-desert-island","tag-eremophila-alpestris","tag-facts","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-horned-lark","tag-information","tag-lark","tag-larks-2","tag-male","tag-singing-2","tag-winter","tag-year-round-residents"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-singing-male-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-2658.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-eMc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":116796,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/06\/fall-male-horned-lark-plus-a-bonus-photo\/","url_meta":{"origin":56804,"position":0},"title":"Fall Male Horned Lark Plus A Bonus Photo","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, I spent time photographing a male Horned Lark perched on a barbed wire fence in the West Desert, with Stansbury Island in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fall male Horned Lark in the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/horned-lark-fall-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-2106.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/horned-lark-fall-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-2106.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/horned-lark-fall-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-2106.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/horned-lark-fall-adult-male-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-2106.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166438,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/06\/horned-lark-meet-the-2026-aba-bird-of-the-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":56804,"position":1},"title":"Horned Lark – Meet The 2026 ABA Bird Of The Year","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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":"Early spring Horned Lark male on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-2132.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-adult-mia-mcpherson-2132.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-male-adult-mia-mcpherson-2132.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-alert-mia-mcpherson-3829.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-alert-mia-mcpherson-3829.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-alert-mia-mcpherson-3829.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-alert-mia-mcpherson-3829.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67842,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/05\/west-desert-male-horned-lark-singing-on-a-snow-topped-fence-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":56804,"position":3},"title":"West Desert Male Horned Lark Singing On A Snow-topped Fence Post","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this adult male Horned Lark singing on a snow-topped fence post three days ago after a spring snow fell overnight in the West Desert.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Horned Lark singing on a snow-topped fence post, Stansbury Mountains, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/horned-lark-male-snow-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0702.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/horned-lark-male-snow-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0702.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/horned-lark-male-snow-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0702.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/horned-lark-male-snow-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0702.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7980,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/31\/female-horned-lark-and-the-moon-setting-over-the-stansbury-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":56804,"position":4},"title":"Female Horned Lark And The Moon Setting Over The Stansbury Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I photograph tons of male Horned Larks but don't have that many images of female Horned Larks, I was happy to find this beautiful female dancing and singing on a boulder in early morning light yesterday in Tooele County, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Singing female Horned Lark in Tooele County, Utah.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46168,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/12\/west-desert-horned-lark-on-sagebrush\/","url_meta":{"origin":56804,"position":5},"title":"West Desert Horned Lark On Sagebrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"My best images of the day though were of this male Horned Lark that I found and pointed out on sagebrush singing and being blown around by the wind.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"West Desert male Horned Lark on sagebrush, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-perched-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-6533.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-perched-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-6533.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-perched-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-6533.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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