Western Meadowlark

Description:

The Western Meadowlark is the size of a robin but chunkier and shorter-tailed, with a flat head, long, slender bill, and a round-shouldered posture that nearly conceals its neck. The wings are rounded and short for the bird’s size and the tail is short, stiff, and spiky.Western Meadowlarks have yellow underparts with intricately patterned brown, black and buff upperparts. A black “V” crosses the bright yellow breast; it is gray in winter. Contrasting stripes of dark brown and light buff mark the head. The outer tail feathers flashes a bit of white during flight.The Western Meadowlark prefers drier grasslands and the Eastern chooses more moist situations. Only the Western is found west of the Great Plains. East of the Great Plains, the Eastern predominates although the Western has recently extended its summer range into the Great Lakes region and the Ohio Valley.Meadowlarks are members of the blackbird family. Other blackbird species may have non-black females, but meadowlarks are unique in not having mostly black colors on the male.Males commonly use fence posts as perches while singing. They will sing to stake out a breeding territory which averages 7 acres in size but may vary from 3 to 15 acres. The males will have more than one mate. Up to three females may nest within its territory. Meadowlarks are ground nesters. They weave dried grasses into a bowl shape, typically within a larger grass clump for shelter and camouflage. An average of 5 eggs are laid and they may have two clutches per year. The eggs are white with brown and lavender spots concentrated at the wider end. Incubation takes two weeks and the young are full grown 6 weeks after hatching. The young have some black spots on their breast but do not develop the distinctive black "V" until the fall molt . Nesting and brood-rearing chores are done primarily by the female, although the male may help feed the young. Nests are sometimes subject to brood parasitism by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). Cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds nests. Both ground-nesting and tree-nesting birds may have the cowbird's unwanted additions in their clutches. Some species of birds will remove the intruding eggs, abandon the nest or just build a new nest on top of the "infected" one. Other species will raise the baby cowbirds as if they were their own. Meadowlarks are ground feeders. The majority of their food during the growing season is insects, spiders and other small invertebrates. Some seeds are eaten also, and that becomes the bulk of their food in the winter. During winter meadowlarks will form into flocks of up to a few hundred individuals which are often seen foraging in fields and pastures.

Habitat:

Western Meadowlarks seek the wide open spaces of native grasslands and agricultural fields for spring and summer breeding and winter foraging. Look for them among low to medium-height grasses more so than in tall fields. They also occur along the weedy verges of roads, marsh edges, and mountain meadows up to 10,000 feet.