The Western Meadowlark

Meadowlark Song courtesy of: Macaulay Library of Natural Sound Cornell Lab of Ornithology

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/

http://www.animalbehaviorarchive.org

City birds-Country birds and how the Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) came to be on the Birdsong Botanicals label:

The name Birdsong Botanicals was truly inspired by the birds: birds that sing in the rural country, birds that sing in the urban city and many in between. In both places there is an avian abundance that one can tune into at any given moment. One rural bird in particular had a singular song that stood out. This bird turned out to be the Western Meadowlark. For our label we wanted a well-known songbird whose native range included California. The Meadowlark fit the criteria and not only graced us with its song but its image.

Photo credits: Meadowlark in water, US Fish & Wildlife Service Singing Meadowlark, National Park Service

Physical description:

The Western Meadowlark, a member of the blackbird family, is a medium size bird about 8.5 - 11 inches in length with a 14-16 inch wingspan and a weight of about 3-4 ounces. Its “above” winged part is a streaked combination of black, brown, beige and white. Its well-known “below” parts: throat, chest and abdomen are bright yellow with a distinctive “v” shaped black bib just below the throat. It has a long sharply pointed brownish-gray bill. Both males and females resemble each other as they do their Eastern counterpart: Sturnella magna. The difference being S. neglectas’ yellow feathers on the throat extends higher up onto the face (malar region), while S. magnas’ feathers behind the lower mandible are white. In addition there are differences in tail feathers as well. The E. Meadowlarks’ central portion of the tail feather is darker with thicker bars, while the W. Meadowlarks’ tail feathers are lighter and varied. In fact they looked so alike it wasn’t until 1844 that Audubon finally recognized the western bird and named it S. neglecta. Of course the best way to tell them apart is by their songs.

Photo courtesy Paul and Beatrice Noll, www.paulnoll.com. Thank you!

A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
-Chinese proverb

Range and Habitat:

The Western Meadowlarks’ range extends north into southern Canada, south into Mexico, and throughout the United States from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean. It is clearly widespread as it is the state bird of Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon and Wyoming. The Western Meadowlark is a grassland bird and prefers drier habitats such as plains, prairies, pastures, meadows and other open cultivated and rural areas. They are residents throughout much of their range but may migrate in extreme weather conditions.

Location in Oregon
Blue is Winter range - Red is Summer range
Purple is Year-round range - Yellow is Migration range
Map courtesy Paul and Beatrice Noll, www.paulnoll.com. Thank you!

Map courtesy of Wildcat Bluff Nature Center...thank you!

Territory and Nesting:

A Meadowlarks’ territory averages 6-7 acres but varies from 3 to 20. The male may have two females, sometimes up to 3, at the same time. Males stake their territory with their song and can be seen perched on fences, wires, poles and trees melodically guarding. They will defend it from other males and if a fight ensues both males lock their feet together and peck at each other with their beaks.

Meadowlarks are ground nesters and the female builds a round dome shaped nest within a large clump of grass or finds a depression in the ground to build upon. She lines the bottom with grass then weaves a waterproof roof leaving enough room for an opening. The nest with its tunnel like opening is camouflaged and not easily spotted. There are usually two broods per year with females incubating 3-6 eggs for about two weeks. The eggs are white with brown and purple spots. Both parents care for the hatchlings for about twelve days.

photo credit: Larry Barnes

Diet:

Western Meadowlarks are omnivores. During the summer season their diet is predominantly cutworms, spiders, insects such as grasshoppers and small invertebrates. In the winter season they eat wheat and oat grains and forage for seeds.

photo credit: Larry Barnes

How birdsong affects plant and human growth:

The idea that birdsong helps plants thrive was researched by a man named Dan Carlson while enrolled in an agricultural program at the University of Minnesota. He discovered that the early morning ultrasonic sound frequencies of birdsong stimulated the stomata (pores) in plant leaves, which encouraged them to expand. This enabled the plants to absorb carbon dioxide and moisture in the morning dew and to release gases and water during transpiration. His methods are used throughout the world with phenomenal success.

“The famous mystic Rudolph Steiner has said that for the agricultural process to happen, for seeds and plants and trees to grow, birdsong is absolutely essential. This is a beautiful truth that very few people know. But we also need to take what he said one stage further, because birds call and sing not only to quicken the plants: they also call to awaken the human seed that we are. They are actually singing for our sake as well. If we can start to listen to them, really listen; they will draw us into this greater consciousness I have been talking about. They will be our teachers, because outer nature is able to point us to our inner nature”.

-Quoted from an interview with Peter Kingsley by Parabola magazine in an article titled Common Sense. Volume 31, no. 1, Spring 2006.

Nature is man's teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart, an influence from all the sights and sounds of her existence.
-Alfred Billings Street

References

The New York Times. “The Meadowlark – For and Against.” July 20, 1913.

http://www.gpnc.org/western.htm

http://www.nhptv.org/Natureworks/westmeadowlark.htm

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Meadowlark/lifehistory

http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/bird

http://www.birding.about.com

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/