Dastardly Duos 2--Tucson Audubon Society

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Tucson Audubon Society
Dastardly Duos

Eastern and Western Meadowlarks
by Larry Liese
Illustrations by George C. West
(Article first appeared in the November 2000 Vermilion Flycatcher newsletter. To receive the newsletter in the mail, become a member of the Friends of Tucson Audubon.)

Winter birds are now back in full, bringing with them sights and sounds we haven’t heard for a while. Of course their identification challenges have returned as well, so here’s some tips on a very similar pair: Eastern and Western Meadowlarks. Not true Larks (Family Alaudidae), they are instead related to New World blackbirds and troupials (Family Emberizidae, subfamily Icterinae). It is particularly interesting that the Western Meadowlark, having been long overlooked, was given the Latin name Sturnella neglecta by John James Audubon. His 1844 report triggered a debate lasting a century. Why it was thought the two were conspecific is clear once one tries to distinguish them in the field.

They look astonishingly similar!

The Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) has 17 subspecies listed in its Life History. Luckily, the only one we have to worry about in Southeast Arizona is S. m. lilianae, which is unfortunately paler than eastern birds but still has observable differences from the Western. We have Eastern Meadowlarks all year, but Westerns are common only from October to April.

Meadowlarks fly fairly low to the ground, fanning their tails for extra lift and when decelerating to land. As they do this, the pattern of dark and light in their retrices (tail feathers for us newbies), becomes apparent.

Western Meadowlark tail The Western Meadowlark has a much wider dark central section to the tail. The two outermost retrices on each side are almost entirely white with some white on the third one in. The remaining six central feathers are all dark.

The lilianae form of the Eastern Meadowlark has four near completely white outer retrices on each side, the fourth one in having a dark edge towards the center. Newer field guides show this in great detail. If you’re skeptical about trying to count feathers on a flying bird,... relax! Just remember that roughly 60% of the Western’s tail is dark, compared to less than 40% for the Eastern. This trick works surprisingly well in practice. Give it a try!

There is a difference in the color of the malar region (the area between the lower bill and the angle of the jaw). This area is whitish on the Eastern and yellow on the Western. If you find yourself looking at a bird saying “Where the heck am I supposed to look?”, Eastern Meadowlark (lilianae) tail imagine the continuation of the lower bill onto the side of the neck. Good lighting and a close view is the key here. Other differences to look for are the color and streakiness of the cheek patch. The Western will have a brown, streaky patch while the Eastern has a cream-colored unstreaked one. Also, the stripes on the head are darker on the Eastern, which strongly contrasts with the pale cheek patch.

I saved the best difference for last because this ID problem was the one that got me to start paying attention to bird vocalizations. Before, I would hear birds calling or singing, but didn’t try to recognize differences. I would also have to put the dreaded “sp.” after the word Meadowlark in my notes most of the time. Then someone on a field trip said “Oh these are easy! Just listen for the ‘See you - see yeer’ and you’ll know that it’s an Eastern Meadowlark”. The bird vocalized again and it was embarrassingly easy to recognize. I then asked what the Western sounded like and they said “Well... that one’s a little harder.” I like to describe the Western’s song more by the cadence. There seems to be about nine syllables that speed up (1—2—3—4-5-6789) as it goes along.

Try these tips out. Maybe you’ll stop standing there waiting for a Meadowlark to finally fly away!

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This page was updated on 02/21/06