{"id":8112,"date":"2013-04-15T06:49:10","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T12:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8112"},"modified":"2026-01-07T07:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:08:00","slug":"great-horned-owls-and-horned-larks-birds-with-ear-tufts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/15\/great-horned-owls-and-horned-larks-birds-with-ear-tufts\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks – Birds with Tufts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Birds with Tufts<\/h2>\n

\"FemaleFemale Horned Lark<\/span><\/p>\n

Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks are species of birds that have tufts that I photograph regularly here in Utah. The female Horned Larks “horns” or tufts are not usually visible. This female was photographed near the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County, Utah.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Horned Lark near the Stansbury Mountains<\/span><\/p>\n

The “horns” of male Horned Larks are though and because the “horns” or feather tufts are a dark color they stand out more. This male was photographed near the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County, Utah on a different day than the female above.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Great Horned Owl<\/span><\/p>\n

The ear tufts of male and female Great Horned Owls are clearly visible and the size of the owls is how to determine gender. This female is larger than male Great Horned Owls. She was photographed on Antelope Island State Park in Davis County, Utah as she rested in a Tamarisk.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Great Horned Owl<\/span><\/p>\n

This male was photographed on Antelope Island State Park in Davis County, Utah resting in the same Tamarisk on a different day than the female was photographed. The Tamarisk are\u00a0an invasive species and have since been chopped down, I think it is a shame that the Tamarisks were not girdled which would have killed them but still left the dead Tamarisk for Owls and other birds of prey to use as perches.<\/p>\n

It’s spring, isn’t it? How come there is snow on the ground this morning??? Springtime in Utah is fickle I tell you!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my bird photos\u00a0 in their galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks are species of birds that have tufts that I photograph regularly here in Utah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143520,"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":[511,27,1022,209,436,1316,358,26],"tags":[4004,4335,4021,4203,3981,2192,4181,12743,4070,4108,1327,6433,2136,4062,519,4035,4353,4210,4055,12742,30,102,4032],"class_list":["post-8112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-great-horned-owls","category-horned-larks","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-antelope","tag-bird-photography","tag-bubo-virginianus","tag-davis-county","tag-ear-tufts","tag-eremophila-alpestris","tag-feather-tufts","tag-female","tag-great-horned-owl","tag-horned-lark","tag-lark","tag-larks-2","tag-male","tag-nature","tag-nature-photography","tag-owls-of-utah","tag-stansbury-mountains","tag-tooele-county","tag-tufts","tag-utah-2","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-horned-owl-mia-mcpherson-8239.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-26Q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"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":8112,"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":8112,"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\/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":37156,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/17\/a-west-desert-horned-lark-in-golden-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":8112,"position":3},"title":"West Desert Horned Lark in Golden Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This West Desert Horned Lark in golden light was taken in the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains of Tooele County on a clear morning last month.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"West Desert Horned Lark female, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-tooele-mia-mcpherson-4051.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-tooele-mia-mcpherson-4051.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/horned-lark-tooele-mia-mcpherson-4051.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday was awesome for Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) in Tooele County, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alert Horned Lark male perched on a rock in the West Desert, Tooele County, 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, 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