Western Meadowlark
Sturnella neglecta
Summary 4
The Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is a medium-sized icterid bird, about 8.5 in (22 cm) long. It nests on the ground in open country in western and central North America grassland. It feeds mostly on insects, but also seeds and berries. It has distinctive calls described as watery or flute-like, which distinguish it from the closely related Eastern Meadowlark.
Distribution 5
Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) Breeding range extends from central British Columbia, northernl Alberta, central Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, western Ontario, northeastern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, northern Michigan, and southern Ontario south to northwestern Baja California, southern California, northwestern Sonora, central Arizona, Mexican highlands (to Jalisco, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León, and western Tamaulipas), west-central Texas, southeastern Kansas, northwestern Missouri, central Illinois, northern Indiana, northwestern Ohio, and extreme northwestern New York (Davis and Lanyon 2008).
Winter range extends primarily from southern British Columbia, central Idaho, central Utah, central Colorado, southern South Dakota, southern Wisconsin, and northern Indiana south to southern Baja California, Michoacán, the state of México, Veracruz, and U.S. Gulf Coast east to northwestern (Davis and Lanyon 2008).
Introduced and established in Hawaii (Kauai) (AOU 1998, Davis and Lanyon 2008).
Habitat and ecology 6
Systems
- Terrestrial
Migration 7
Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.
Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).
Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.
This species is partially migratory in the northern parts of the breeding range (Terres 1980).
Home range size has been estimated at 4-13 hectares (Bent 1958). In Colorado, mean territory size of 17 mated males was 1.24 hectares, 0.32 hectares in 7 unmated males (Aweida 1995). Estimates of male territory size are 3-13 hectares within tallgrass prairie (Kendeigh 1941, Lanyon 1956, Laubach 1984), 2-7 hectares within short- and mixed-grass prairies (Wiens 1970, 1971; Schaeff and Picman 1988), 2 hectares in tame pastures in Wisconsin (Wiens 1969), and 3 hectares in alfalfa fields and surrounding edges in Iowa (Frawley and Best 1991). In idle shrubsteppe and shrubsteppe pasture, the estimated territory sizes for males were 2.2 hectares and 2.3 hectares, respectively (Wiens 1971). Breeding home range size is essentially same as territory size (Lanyon 1957).
Sources and Credits
- (c) Blake Matheson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3388/3550124531_96018dfc24.jpg
- (c) James Maughn, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3928/15451779676_684f471ef4_o.jpg
- (c) Liam O'Brien, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Liam O'Brien
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturnella_neglecta
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28944086
- (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31275249
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28944094
