Lark Sparrow

Photo by George Wall

 

Description:  This is a medium sized woodpecker about 9 ¼ inches in length. They have a plain brown breast and head; however, the male has a red cap. The back and underpants near the tail are barred with white and black.The adult male shown above has a typically sparrow-like dark-streaked brown back, and white underparts except for a dark central spot. The cheeks and crown sides are chestnut, with white eyebrow and crown stripes. The dark tail's corners are also white. Young Lark Sparrows are duller, and the underparts are streaked.  

Habitat:  They are a ground forager and stay in low bushes off the ground when not foraging.

Diet: They mainly eat seeds, but during the breeding season they’ll eat insects and grasshoppers. Range: They breed in southern Canada, much of the United States (much less common in the east), and northern Mexico.

Breeding: Lark Sparrows nest on the ground, laying 3-6 eggs in a grass cup nest sheltered by a clump of grass or other vegetation. The eggs are white with black scrawling. 

Fascinating Facts: Unlike many songbirds, the Lark Sparrow walks on the ground rather than hops. It hops only during courtship. A courting male Lark Sparrow crouches on the ground, holds his tail up at a 45 degree angle from the ground, spreads the tail feathers to show off the white tips, and then struts with its wings drooping so that the wingtips nearly touch the ground. When the female is receptive, the male gives her a small twig just before copulation. The Lark Sparrow often takes over old mockingbird or thrasher nests instead of building its own. Occasionally the eggs and young of two species are found in the same nest, suggesting that the Lark Sparrow shares the nest with the other bird.