Bird
Horned Lark
Eremophila alpestris
Lives in North Carolina all year and nests here. Found in all 100 counties, across 3 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 3

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 100 counties
- Habitats
- 3
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in North Carolina 3
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Other habitats in its models (34)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (22)
- Appalachian Shale Barrens Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer and winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.
- Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dry Chalk Bluff Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Florida Dry Prairie Summer and winter.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Summer and winter.
- Louisiana Beach Summer and winter.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Summer and winter.
- Southeast Florida Beach Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Beach Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Summer and winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer and winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Summer and winter.
- Upper Texas Coast Beach Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Summer and winter.
Northeast (1)
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
Midwest (1)
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer and winter.
Land cover and other classes (10)
- Barren Land Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer and winter.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter.
- Recently Burned Grassland Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
Seasons in North Carolina
- Year-round: nests here, in 93 of 100 counties.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 23 of 100 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 12
- Coastal BristlegrassSetaria corrugata
- Giant BristlegrassSetaria magna
- Marsh BristlegrassSetaria parviflora
- Common RagweedAmbrosia artemisiifolia
- Giant RagweedAmbrosia trifida
- Lanceleaf RagweedAmbrosia bidentata
- Perennial RagweedAmbrosia psilostachya
- Box KnotweedPolygonum buxiforme
- Bushy KnotweedPolygonum prolificum
- Erect KnotweedPolygonum erectum
- Pleatleaf KnotweedPolygonum tenue
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
Plant genera in its diet records (7)
- Setaria Seeds. 5 diet records. 3 native plants in North Carolina
- Ambrosia Seeds. 2 diet records. 4 native plants in North Carolina
- Avena Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Fagopyrum Seeds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Polygonum Seeds. 1 diet record. 5 native plants in North Carolina
- Triticum Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
- Zea Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 89
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
Plants 1314
- Crooked-stem AsterSymphyotrichum prenanthoides
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common HorseweedErigeron canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Oakleaf FleabaneErigeron quercifolius
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Ivyleaf Morning-gloryIpomoea hederacea
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Northern Evening-primroseOenothera parviflora
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in North Carolina
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 112
- DovekieAlle alle
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus caudacutus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- American OystercatcherHaematopus palliatus
Plants 132
- Maritime ThoroughwortEupatorium maritimum
- Beach Morning-gloryIpomoea imperati
- Railroad VineIpomoea brasiliensis
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Northern BayberryMorella pensylvanica
- Seabeach AmaranthAmaranthus pumilus
- Northern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia polygonifolia
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Mound-lily YuccaYucca gloriosa
- Northern Seabeach OrachAtriplex mucronata
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Dune BluecurlsTrichostema nesophilum
Mountain balds
Birds 23
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Loggerhead ShrikeLanius ludovicianus
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- American Tree SparrowSpizella arborea
- Orchard OrioleIcterus spurius
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
Plants 76
- Mountain Highbush BlueberryVaccinium simulatum
- Mountain AndromedaPieris floribunda
- Smooth BlackberryRubus canadensis
- Southern Mountain CranberryVaccinium erythrocarpum
- Atlantic GoldenrodSolidago vaseyi
- Catawba RhododendronRhododendron catawbiense
- Great Smoky Mountains RhododendronRhododendron smokianum
- Cumberland AzaleaRhododendron cumberlandense
- Flame AzaleaRhododendron calendulaceum
- Northern Roughleaf GoldenrodSolidago patula
- Schweinitz's RagwortPackera schweinitziana
- Balsam Mountain HawthornCrataegus x oreophila
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Horned Lark
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus



































































