Horned lark

Eremophila alpestris

Heavy agriculture has robbed many native birds of habitat. But many cropfields, especially wheat in the winter, make horned larks feel right at home.

Though found border to border, horned larks do best in flat, wide-open spaces like in far western Kansas. What look like twin cowlicks atop their heads give the birds their name.

Wintertime is a great time to see horned larks as they often gather along the sides of roads, especially when snow covers the fields. Some such winter flocks hold thousands of birds, and may include Lapland longspurs, another species that thrives in the wide-open spaces Kansas offers so well.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Horned lark."