Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)
Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)
Breeding plumage: Yellow face with broad black moustache stripes and black lores. Black forecrown and thin black horns. Black breast band with blunt vertical extension towards throat (sometimes connects to moustache stripes). Black tail with white sides. Juveniles covered in small pale spots with only faint facial markings. May be confused with juvenile Skylark, but note shorter bill and yellowish face of young Shore larks.
Sound:Song a stream of thin and tinkling, squeaking notes with a recurring, drawn, ringing and slightly ascending chirp. Timbre resemblant to Lapland Bunting. Often given from high in the air, being difficult to locate. More hesitantly when given from the ground with a stumbling introduction. Flight call quite similar to Meadow Pipit's "tseep" call, but less anxious.
Song:
Distribution:
Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCLargest falcon. Heavily built. Grey upperparts and white, speckled underparts. Juveniles with browner plumage than adults, blue-grey legs and longitudinal streaking below. Diffuse moustache-stripe, and the whole head seems dark at distance, lacking a defined cap. Rounder and broader wings, longer tail and bulky belly distinguishes it from Peregrine. Underside of wings with dark coverts in contrast to pale base of flight-feathers. Extremely powerful, but slower flight action than Peregrine.
Sound:A coarse, drawn out, Peregrine-like "kaaawt", with emphasis on ending, is repeated in series. Much slower paced than in small falcons, and deeper and with different attack than in Peregrine. Also shorter, coarse warning-calls.
Alarm call:
Distribution:
Xeno-canto: map
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCSounds:Recorded by Andrew Spencer,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license