“IT HAS BEEN CALLED “the most common bird you never heard of.” The Horned Lark breeds on mountaintops, in low deserts, and all across the American prairie. In winter, it frequents plains, shores, and farm fields. And unlike most New World birds, it ranges widely in Eurasia. Yet most ordinary folk—normal people, nonbirders—just don’t know the bird. Horned Larks don’t come to birdfeeders. They eschew parks and neighborhoods. And they’re flighty, often staying hundreds of feet ahead of human intruders upon their domain. Although the act of simply seeing a Horned Lark requires little effort, the feat of correctly identifying one is something of an accomplishment. The Horned Lark is a birder’s bird. A huge part of the experience of birding is the thrill of discovery. Keep at it for a while, and you might register a bona fide ornithological discovery: a first nesting record for your state or province, for example, or a new field mark for separating one avian species from another. The vast majority of your discoveries, though, will be entirely personal: realizing that there are owls on your property, or that eagles migrate over your neighborhood each year, or that thousands of Horned Larks swarm the pastures, cornfields, and waste places around the outskirts of town. Eventually and inevitably, the birder comes to take the Horned Lark for granted. Once you know they’re there, Horned Larks are everywhere. Objectively speaking, they’re as beautiful as when you first encountered them, with their ornate facial markings and tinkling call notes, rising up in front of you. But they become frankly commonplace after a while. Perhaps, but there is something else: Years, even decades, after our first encounter with the species, it is an inspiration. We never forget that initial wonder, that moment of awareness that this world of ours is full of undiscovered wonders and blessings.”
How to Know the Birds: The Art and Adventure of Birding by Ted Floyd
Dewdrop World 