Common Horned Lark vs Long-tailed Ground Squirrel

Eremophila alpestris compared with Urocitellus undulatus

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Horned Lark	Long-tailed Ground Squirrel
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Passeriformes (Songbirds)	Rodentia (Rodents)
Family	Alaudidae	Sciuridae (Squirrels)
Genus	Eremophila	Urocitellus
Species	Eremophila alpestris	Urocitellus undulatus

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Horned Lark and Long-tailed Ground Squirrel share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (Chordates)

Conservation Status

Common Horned Lark

LC — Least Concern

Long-tailed Ground Squirrel

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Horned Lark	Long-tailed Ground Squirrel
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Horned Lark

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Colombia).

Long-tailed Ground Squirrel

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Common Horned Lark

The most widely distributed lark species, common horned larks — also called shore larks in Europe — inhabit bare, open ground from Arctic tundra and alpine fellfield to coastal beaches and prairie across North America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Named for the small black feather tufts on the male's head. They are among the first birds to arrive at breeding grounds in early spring while snow still covers the tundra. They forage on seeds and insects on the ground year-round.