Horned lark, a rare bird threatened by climate change

Last week, with Alex, we had the chance to observe a Balkan horned lark (Eremophila alpestris balcanica), at what we call “the rock”. The place is actually called Prilepac or Odžin Kamen, and from there we can even see the Shar Mountains.

But let’s talk more about horned larks, called like this because of the small black “horns” made of feathers that they bear on their heads.

Horned lark is a small species of bird which has a very large distribution: it can be found in Europe, in Asia, in North America, in North Africa and even in some parts of the Andes! The horned larks that live in Kosovo are from a particular population, called subspecies, that lives only in the Balkans (from Croatia to Greece to Romania).  They breed in mountain pastures and rocky areas from 1000 m to 2500 m. There, the female Horned Lark selects a natural depression on bare ground, or excavate one, and then weave a nest from grass and other plants materials. In fact, they spend a lot of time on the ground, walking or running over open ground as they search for seeds and insects, their mains foods items. They don’t migrate, contrary to the populations living in Scandinavia, but can be found at lower altitudes during winter, where they go to find more food.

In the Balkans, Horned lark as a disjunct distribution. It is considered as a rare breeder in Serbia. Unfortunately, data is lacking for Kosovo, but the situation is probably similar.  

Whereas the Bulgarian population is stable, the Serbian population of Horned lark is rapidly declining. Horned lark is also declining at lower altitude, perhaps because of climate change. Disappearance of traditional livestock farming (who maintain meadows open and rich in insects) is also considered as one of the main threats. Due to lack of monitoring, the trend of horned lark in Kosovo is unknown.

At our small scale, we will try to improve the knowledge about horned larks in Kosovo:  is there a breeding population of horned larks in Bozevce? Or, as it is most likely, are horned larks coming here only during winter to find food? The answer, next spring!

Sources :

Beason, R. C. (2020). Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.horlar.01

Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Anton, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M.V., Bauer, H.-G. & Foppen, R.P.B. (2020). European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Bird Census Council & Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Rašajski, J. (2017). Sve Ptice Srbije (3rd Ed.), Laguna.