The Science of Birds - Meadowlarks

Episode Date: October 19, 2023

This episode—which is Number 85—is about the Meadowlarks of the world.And it’s not just those three North American species: the Western, Eastern, and Chihuahuan. There are actually 8 bird species we call meadowlarks. The other five are found primarily in South America. We’ll be talking about them today, too.Meadowlarks belong to the New World Blackbird family, Icteridae. This family includes birds like Red-winged Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, and the Great-tailed Grackle.There’s a lot to admire about meadowlarks. The 3 yellow-breasted and 5 red-breasted meadowlark species bring color and music to the windswept grasslands of the Americas. ~~ Leave me a review using Podchaser ~~Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website Support the show

In the grasslands and prairies of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, some of the most iconic bird songs are those of the meadowlarks. There are three species of North American meadowlarks, the western, eastern, and chihuahuan. Not only do these birds sing pretty, they look pretty too. Their underparts are boldly patterned in bright yellow and black. When a meadowlark is singing from a perch, you can spot that yellow belly from a long way off. People enjoy the look and sound of the western meadowlark so much that this is the

official state bird for six U.S. states, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, and my home state of Oregon. Here in Oregon, a bunch of schoolchildren back in the 1920s voted to make the Western Meadowlark our state bird. Now, I love meadowlarks, but honestly, I might have chosen something like the varied thrush or marbled merlet to be Oregon's state bird, a bird that's more specific to the Pacific Northwest. But when school children vote on something, you can't really argue with their decision, can you? Not unless you want to be seen as some kind of monster. Well, how about we take a close look at metal larks today to see what all the kids are excited about?

Hello and welcome. This is the science of birds! I am your host, Ivan Philipson. The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners. This episode, which is number 85, is about all the meadowlarks of the world. And it's not just those three North American species, the western, eastern, and chihuahuan. There are actually eight bird species. we call meadowlarks. The other five are found primarily in South America. We'll be talking about them today, too. Now, you've heard me gripe before about the confusion that common names of birds

can cause. Common names, in many cases, just don't match the true relationships among birds. For example, the American robin is not at all closely related to the European robin. These bird species are in two different avian families. That both are called Robin is just a historical artifact. People sometimes used to name birds and everything else based on just their superficial resemblance. They didn't know any better, since they didn't have the advantage of understanding the true evolutionary genetic relationships among bird species and families. So, based on what I just said, do you think meadowlarks are actually larks? No, they are not. Not even close. Once upon a time, way back in the 1700s, the OG taxonomist

Carl Linnaeus placed the eastern metal arc in the genus Allauda. That's the genus of the skylarks, all of which live in Eurasia and Africa. I guess Linnaeus thought, these birds were related because they sing similarly melodious songs. About 10 years later, however, good old Linnaeus reclassified the eastern meadowlark, moving it into the genus sternus. That's the genus of the European starling. That wasn't any better. Starlings are also not closely related to meadowlarks. But eventually, the North American meadowlarks were given their own genus, Sternella. That means Starling-like. Ornithologists have sometimes placed the South American metal arks in the genus Sternella too. But today, those southern species all belong to

their own genus, Lyses, that's spelled L-E-I-S-T-E-S. Lys-E-S-L-E-S-L-E-S-L-E-S translates as robber or plunderer. I tried to trace down the origin of this genus, and I came across a quote from 1811 that I just have to share. Referring to a bird, it goes like this. Quote, This notorious and celebrated corn thief, the long-reputed plunderer and pest of our honest and laborious farmers. End quote.

Now, I think this actually refers to the red-winged blackbird. South American metal arcs look a little bit like blackbirds and have been called blackbirds in field guides. of the past. In any case, now I know what I want engraved on my tombstone. Here lies Ivan Philipson, a notorious and celebrated corn thief, the long-reputed plunderer and pest of our honest and laborious farmers. Wouldn't that be fantastic? So if metal larks aren't larks, and they aren't starlings, what exactly are they? Metal larks belong to the New World Blackbird family, Turidi. This family includes birds like red-winged blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, and the Great

Tailed Grackle. So there's the Blackbird connection, right? Without any further fussing around, let's get into the nitty-gritty about the meadowlarks. All metal arks have fairly hard. stocky bodies and short tails. Except, I guess, for the long-tailed metal arc. But it's all relative. The long-tailed metal arc doesn't have that long of a tail. The wings are moderately short. When a metal arc flies, its wing beats are fast and shallow. It alternates between flapping and gliding, sort of like a grouse or quail. The bill shape of most metal arcs is long and sharply point. This shape is pretty typical for birds in the New World Blackbird family.

But two closely related meadowlark species in South America, the white-browed and red-breasted meadowlarks, have bills that are more finch-like. They're shorter, more cone-shaped. In terms of overall size, metal-larks are all fairly similar, but the long-tailed metal-lark narrowly beats the eastern metal-lark as the largest of the eight species. species. It's about 10 inches or 26 centimeters from beak to tail. The smallest species is the white-browed metal arc at about 7 inches or 17 centimeters long. Moving on to plumage coloration. Metal arks are divided into two genera, right? We have three species in the genus Sternella and five species in the genus Lyses. Thankfully, nature has color-coded the two groups so that birders can tell them apart from a distance. If you're a mile away looking at a bird perched on a shrub, you'll know

it belongs to the genus Sternella if you see yellow. But if you see red, you've got a bird in the genus Lyses. Further differentiation telling the actual species apart, well, that's not quite as easy. So the Sternella group is what we call the yellow-breasted meadowlarks. Or if you're short on time and can't be bothered to waste your breath saying yellow-breasted meadowlarks, you could, I just decided, call them yellow larks. These yellow fellows are lemon-colored on their throats, breasts, breasts, and bellies. They also have a bold, black, V-shaped marking on the chest. It looks sort of like a little bib.

If you flip over a yellow-breasted metal arc to look at its back, gently please, you'll see that the upper parts are all streaky and barred with brown, gray, and buff colors. This plumage pattern gives the bird excellent camouflage while it walks around on the ground, in the grass. The bright yellow parts are concealed below. Good luck spotting one of these yellow larks while it's hunkered down in the grass. but if it flushes and flies away, you might see that the outer tail feathers are white.

This is a helpful field mark. The three North American meadowlarks we are talking about are really similar in appearance, like really similar. So much so that for a long time everyone thought there was just one species. The scientific name was Sternella Magna, and that's still the name for the eastern meadowlark. In the early 1900s, the Western Meadowlark was recognized as its own species, Sternella Neglecta.

What does that second part, the specific epithet, sound like to you? Neglecta. Sounds like the word neglect, doesn't it? And there is a connection there. Neglecta refers to the fact that the Western Meadowlark was neglected, overlooked, for a long time. people just thought it was the same as Sternella Magna, the Eastern Meadowlark. But the Western Meadowlark is neglected no more. The schoolchildren have voted, and now this is the state bird for pretty much the entire

western half of the United States. You can't go anywhere without people talking your ear off about the virtues of the Western Meadowlark. Maybe we should rename it Sternella ubiquita, or Sternella too much of a good thinga. Then we have the Chihuahuan Meadowlark, Sternella Lillianey. This species is hot off the press, recently dubbed freshly minted. Just last year in 2022, ornithologists elevated this bird from being a mere sub-species of the eastern meadowlark to being a full species. From its name, you might think the Chihuahuan meadowlark is a tiny bird with bulwold.

eyes and a nervous disposition. But no, the reason it's called the Chihuahuan Meadowlark has to do with where it lives, in the arid grasslands of the Chihuahuan Desert, in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. The Chihuahuan Meadowlark looks pretty similar to the eastern meadowlark, but the former bird has more white on the cheeks, smaller black markings on its sides, and more white on its outer tail feathers. Still, the three yellow-breasted meadowlarks can be very challenging to tell apart from just looking at them. Hearing their voices and knowing their geographic ranges can help a lot with identification.

So that was a little about what the yellow-breasted meadowlarks look like. What about the red-breasted meadowlarks? The birds I like to call the red-o-larks. These five species in the genus Lyses are more. much darker on their backs. They're mostly black on their upper parts, although a couple of species are more dark grayish. On their undersides, these birds are red, and I mean red, red, like day glow crimson red. They're gorgeous. Red-o-larks lack the black V marking that the yellow-breasted species have. Four of the red species, however, have bold white eyebrow markings. This plumage

marking is called a supercilium. Earlier I mentioned the white-browed meadowlark. This species has the scientific name Lyses supercileris. Males and females of all eight meadowlark species show some dichromatism, some plumage differences between the sexes. Females still have some color on their undersides, but males are more richly colored. And this makes sense because it's typically only the female who incubates the eggs and broods the chicks. She needs to be well camouflaged while carrying out these duties, so that she doesn't attract the attention of predators and whatnot. Okay, now it's time to listen to some of the vocal sounds of meadowlarks. The iconic image of a meadowlark is the bird perched on an old fence post, its head thrown back and its

pointy bill open wide as it belts out its lovely song. Male meadowlark, typically have dozens or even up to a hundred variations of their songs. They cycle through these variations during a performance. The songs of Western and Eastern meadowlarks differentiate the species more so than their appearances, at least to our human eyes. Western meadowlarks have flute-like liquidy songs, whereas the songs of Eastern Meadowlarks are relatively simple and have been described as slurred and whistle-like. Here's an eastern meadowlark singing in Minnesota.

And now here's the gurgling, flute-like song of a way. And now here's the gurgling, flute-like song of a Western Meadowlark. This bird was recorded in South Dakota. Now let's head way down south to Ecuador to listen to the song of Lyses bellicosis, the Peruvian meadowlark. Here's another couple of Peruvian meadowlarks in Ecuador. This time, the sound we're hearing is a short call rather than a song. Continuing even further south, in Argentina, we have a long-tailed meadowlark, Liste's Loica. The specific epithet, Loica, comes from the regional Spanish name for this bird. for this bird, spelled L-O-I-C-A.

Okay, here's a long-tailed meadowlark singing. If you didn't understand the last few songs, played, maybe it's because the birds were singing in Spanish. Espanio. My Spanish isn't great, but I'm pretty sure that the long-tailed metal arc there was saying, I am a notorious and celebrated corn thief. I mentioned earlier that metal arks are essentially New World Blank. blackbirds. They're in the family Icturidae. Other Icturids include

orioles, grackles, cowbirds, orel pendulas, caciques, and of course blackbirds. There are 105 species in all, eight of which are meadowlarks. I will definitely do an entire podcast episode on the family

Icturid at some point. Meadowlarks represent one of the most ancient branches of the Icturid family tree. Their closest relatives are the Bobbolink, Dolaconic's orizivorous, and, a slightly more distant cousin, the yellow-headed blackbird, Xanthocephalus, Xanthocephalus. Ornithologists back in the day divided meadowlarks into the two genera,

Sternella and Lyses. But then some other ornithologists came along and said, Nah, these birds are all pretty similar in terms of what they look like and how they live. So those people lumped all meadowlarks into the single genus, Sternella. And still other ornithologists later split metallarks back into the two genera again. The most recent reclassification happened around 2015. It was motivated by new research using genetic data from metallark DNA. The genetic data revealed that the yellow larks and the redolarks each belong to distinct

lineages. And those lineages are different enough to justify treating them as separate genera. Splitting and lumping, lumping and splitting. This is what taxonomists do. They're just trying to classify birds and all the life on earth the best they can, based on the best data they can get their hands on. And speaking of splitting, that is what taxonomists did with the eastern metal arc. Sternella Magna was split into the Eastern Meadowlark and the Western Meadowlark in the 1800s. Then, much more recently, like almost yesterday, the Chihuahuan Meadowlark was split from the Eastern Meadowlark. The Chihuahuan Meadowlark's song is also distinct. Here's an example of what it sounds like.

Genetic research combined with analyses of these birds' song patterns shows that the three North American meadowlarks rarely ever interbreed. In other words, they don't hybridize. In fact, it seems like they kind of hate each other. At least the western and eastern metal arks. In locations where the ranges of these two species overlap, they won't share territory. They chase each other and fight to stake their territorial claims.

but on the rare occasion when a Western meadowlark falls in love with an Eastern Meadowlark, like Romeo and Juliet from their feuding families, things might turn out badly. Not badly as in the metal arks will kill themselves romantically by drinking poison and all of that, but as in the hybrid babies resulting from the union of such star-crossed lovers may have low fertility when they mature and try to breed with each other. An experiment with captive meadowlarks in the 1970s found that when two Western slash Eastern Meadowlark hybrids bred, the fertility of their eggs was only 10%. That was super low compared to the 87% fertility of the matings between purebred meadowlarks.

If we look at a finer taxonomic scale, we see that ornithologists recognize a couple subspecies in the Western Meadowark and 15 subspecies for the Eastern Meadowark. Until recently, the Chihuahuan Meadowark was classified as one of those many Eastern Meadowlark subspecies. There's another subspecies that might someday get bumped up to full species status. Sternella Magna Hippocrepus is found. only in Cuba. Its range doesn't overlap with any other subspecies or species of metal arc. How about we talk a little more about the geographic distribution of metal arks? The yellow-breasted sternella metal arks are mostly North American. However, the eastern metal arc has some populations that get down as far south as northern South America.

Those feisty-lice metalarks, the red-breasted ones, they must, mostly live in South America. But the actual species with the official name, red-breasted metal arc, Lyses Militaris, gets all the way up into Central America. Some meadowarks have naturally colonized islands, like that Cuban subspecies of the eastern metal arc. The red-breasted metal arc lives on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, and the long-tailed metal arc is found on the Falkland Islands, east of southern Argentina. You can see, Western meadowlarks in Hawaii on the island of Kauaii way, way out there in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I saw a few when I was there leading a birding tour last year. But meadowlarks

don't belong in Hawaii. They're introduced. People deliberately tossed some Western meadowlarks onto Kauai as early as 1928. The idea was that the birds would help control insects in agricultural plantations. Here's a quote from a Hawaiian newspaper dated 1930. Quote, There are many birds whose song and plumage are very beautiful, but who would prove to be undesirable citizens, owing to their fruit and grain-eating habits, and on the other hand, there are birds of great economic value as enemies of insects, which would aid us considerably in holding down our ever-increasing pests. End quote. Wow, I need to catch my breath.

That quote was all one sentence. Even by my long-winded standards, that sentence was a doozy. Among other species, metal arks were mentioned in that newspaper article as being approved by the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry for, quote, introduction and liberation. Meadowlarks, the board decided, had not only beautiful songs and plumage, they had great economic value as well. I'm not sure the meadowlarks actually helped very much.

Western meadowlarks have never successfully colonized the other Hawaiian islands, with or without the help of humans. That might be because the other islands, unlike Kauai, are crawling with introduced mongooses. These crafty mammalian predators may wipe out any meadowlarks that arrive, since the birds forage on the ground and nest on the ground. Now, let's talk habitats. If you want to know what habitats meadowlarks are found in, well, it's right there in the name.

They like meadows. The end. Okay, next topic. Just kidding. I mean, they do like meadows, but there's more to it than that. Depending on the species, meadowlarks have habitat preferences for dry or wet grasslands, short grass or long grass, natural grasslands or cultivated land, and so on. The Chihuahuan Meadowlark, for example, breeds in desert grasslands.

But the red-breasted meadowlark prefers to be near water in savannas and verdant grasslands. The long-tailed meadowlark lives in Patagonia and lives in a variety of step habitats with shrubs. Side note, if you'd like to learn more about the importance of grasslands as bird habitat, please check out episode 64 of this podcast. Some meadowlark populations are migratory, and others are residents. The northernmost breeding meadowlarks in North America, for example, head south in the fall. Western meadowlarks show more migratory tendencies than eastern meadowlarks. In one of the few cases where a member of the family, Icturidhi, ended up in the old world,

a vagrant western meadowlark was seen in Chukotka, Russia in 2002. That's in eastern Siberia across the Bering Strait from Alaska. At the southern tip of South America, the long-tailed metal arc populations of Tierra del Fuego are, interestingly, resident. You'd think at least some of them would fly northward to escape the winter chill. But nope, as far as I know, those birds stay in more or less the same place, all year. Meadowlarks, as a group, aren't doing all that bad when it comes to their conservation status.

None of the eight species has been classified as globally endangered. Not yet, anyway. The eastern meadowlark, however, is in the near-threatened category. This species' populations have been declining at a rate of more than 3% per year. The Western Meadowlark, although not classified as endangered or threatened, has also been suffering from population declines for decades. Here in Oregon, for example, even back in the 1920s when those school children were voting to make the Western Meadowlark the state bird, our native grasslands were fast disappearing. Urban development, farming, and fire suppression have destroyed most of the meadowlark habitat in the valleys of Western Oregon. Habitat loss like this has been devastating for many other grassland birds.

These ecosystems all across the western hemisphere have been converted to cropland and rangeland. Agricultural land can still support some meadowlark species under the right conditions, but other species aren't so adaptable. They need native grassland habitat. That's true for the pompous metalark, Lyses de Philippia, This species is in the vulnerable category, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. That makes it the most threatened meadowlark species. The Pampas are rich, vast grasslands in South America, spreading from southern Brazil to northern Argentina.

But sadly, most of the native grasslands in the region have disappeared with the expansion of intense agriculture over the last couple hundred years. The Pompas Meadowlark is one species that just doesn't tolerate agricultural habitats. It depends on natural grasslands. All meadowlarks forage and nest on the ground. So they're particularly vulnerable during the breeding season, vulnerable to things like pesticides and farm machinery that comes along and plows over their nests and chicks. Meadowlarks are primarily insectivores.

They eat beetles, grasshoppers, worms, grubs, caterpillars, and other critters of that nature. But these birds will also eat some plant matter, especially in the non-breeding season, when many meadowlarks chow down on weed seeds and grains. They sometimes eat a bit of fruit as well. Meadowlarks swallow small pebbles to help grind up the seeds they eat. As these birds are the long-reputed plunderers and pests of our honest and laborious farmers, it isn't surprising that those honest farmers in the U.S. once tried to have meadowlarks officially labeled as agricultural pests.

Now, to be fair, metal arks do sometimes gather in flocks to swoop down on grain crops. On the other hand, they mostly eat insects, many of which are far worse as agricultural pests. Most of what ornithologists know about the diets of meadowlarks comes from research on North American species. But it seems red-breasted meadowlarks in the genus Lyses have a similar diet of invertebrates and seeds. But I wouldn't be surprised if, besides all those bugs and grains, Meadowlarks in the genus Lice teas like to drink ice tea. Lysdies like ice tea? Yeah, that's stupid.

I know. It was worth a try. Metal arks, at least the eastern and western species, will sometimes feed on birds and small mammals that end up as roadkill, or they'll peck at the carcasses left behind by large predators. So I guess metal arcs don't mind doing a little scavenging. But I've got a story for you, one that feels a little like something from a Stephen King horror novel.

In April 2015, there was a massive snowstorm that dumped 19 inches of wet snow on the short grass prairies around Laramie, Wyoming. A couple of songs. scientists went out in the storm to observe birds. They drove around on the snow-covered roads to record any instances of birds scavenging the carcasses of other birds, or killing each other, or engaging in cannibalism. The normal food for these birds of insects and seeds was covered in deep snow. It was inaccessible. The researchers ended up recording 47 cases of western metal arks eating the flesh of other birds. Most of these were just scavenging, but six of the

observations were of metal arks actually killing other species and eating them. In one event, a western metal arc was using its pointy dagger-like bill to gouge out the eyes of a thick-billed long spur. Another metalark was photographed eating the brains of a horned lark it had just murdered, and the researchers watched as one meadowlark snuck up on a dark-eyed junco from behind. The metal arc then pounced and grabbed the junco by the back of the head. Pinning the junco down, the metal arc proceeded to peck at the junco's skull until the smaller bird died. Yikes. Pretty gruesome, right? I don't know about these western meadowlarks.

They're more like Western murder larks. Maybe this isn't the way we think songbirds should behave. They should just look pretty, sing their happy little songs, and eat the bugs that we don't like. But hey, a bird's got to do what a bird's got to do to survive. That snowstorm in 2015 put a lot of pressure on the grassland birds of Wyoming. It was a life or death situation. Mostly death. Now, it's not typical for metal arks to be out there in the grasslands stabbing the skulls of hapless songbirds.

Instead, metal arks typically forage by walking around on the ground looking for insects and seeds. That long, pointy bill is often used as a probe. A metal arks sticks its beak into soil, bark, or a piece of fruit, and then the bird opens its bill. Meadowlarks and other members of the family Icturidae have strong muscles for opening the beak. They can open up holes in soil or pry off bark this way. The bill works sort of like a pair of reverse action pliers. Stab and open, stab and open. This foraging method is called gaping.

By gaping, a metal arc can reach insects that are hidden in the soil or wherever. In addition to soil and bark, Western meadowlarks like to probe and tear open big piles of dried cow poop. The birds do this more often in autumn and winter when insect prey is scarce. Research on this behavior suggests that the metal arks are looking for seeds in the cow pies rather than bugs. And this makes me wonder, before people introduced cows to North America, did Western meadowlarks forage like this? on the dung piles of American bison? Also, these birds will sometimes perch on a dried cow pie, using it as a platform to perform their songs.

Maybe to metal arks, an old pile of cow dung is sort of like a karaoke bar. You and your friends can enjoy a snack while you take turns belting it out on the stage. The primary breeding strategy for meadowlarks is polygyny. At least, this appears to be true for the North American species. Polygony is what we call it when one male breeds with more than one female. In the case of meadowlarks, a male usually mates with two females, or in rare cases, three females.

But even in the same population, some males may be polygynous and some may be monogamous. Less research has been carried out on the breeding behaviors of the red-breasted meadowlarks. We don't know as much about how they make baby redolarks. But the long-tailed metal lark, way down there in Patagonia, appears to be monogamous. A pair of long-tailed metal arks goes off and makes a nest away from others of their kind, their solitary breeders. The pompous metal-lark, on the other hand, breeds in loose colonies. A colony might have over 100 individuals.

Metal larks show some courtship behaviors as they pair up in the early breeding season. Singing is super important, of course. A male metal larks song has many features that discerning females use when selecting a mate. The quality of the song, the intensity, the duration, and so on. The size of the male's song repertoire can influence a female's interest as well. And there's some research suggesting that how often a male switches between his song variations is important for attracting females. With Sternella Meadow Larks in North America, the first thing that usually happens in courtship is the aerial chase. When a female arrives on a male's territory, she initiates a flight and the male chases after her for a few minutes.

Males of these species often make a courtship display for their females. The male faces a female, points his bill upward to show off his bright yellow breast with its black V marking. Simultaneously, he flicks his wings and spreads his tail. Males of the red-breasted meadowlarks make complex display flights. The white-browed meadowlark, for example, makes a parachute display flight. The male flies straight upward while singing. Then he spreads his wings and his tail and glides down. Some people say this little black bird looks like a bat during the display.

A male meadowlark defends a territory in the breeding season. Territory size depends on the species, the habitat, and probably several other factors. In western meadow larks, territory size ranges from 2 to 32 acres, or about 1. to 13 hectares. The territory is where the male and his lady friends find food, and it's where they raise some baby meadowlarks. The male guards his female, or females, from the advances of other males. If one male trespasses on another male's territory, get ready for some drama.

There's going to be some aerial chasing, posturing, maybe even a scuffle with two metal larks rolling around on the ground, pecking and clawing at each other. One behavior seen in clashes between sternella metal arcs is the jump flight. Here's a description of jump flights from the Birds of the World website. During spirited boundary disputes, males spring upward to a height of one meter and fly to a point several meters away. In this jump flight, wings are fluttered in exaggerated fashion over the back, legs hang limply, and the tail is elevated. In dropping back to the ground, the wings are still extended vertically. The second male follows with a similar jump flight.

Both males may continue with posturing at a new locality. So that's the jump flight. Earlier, I played you some sounds made by the Peruvian meadowlark, Lyses bellocosis. This species lives along the arid west coasts of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. So, the specific epithet for this species is bellicosis, lystes bellicosis. This might remind you of the English adjective bellicose, or maybe the word belligerent. Indeed, these words all share the same Latin root.

The implication for the Peruvian meadowlark is that it's an aggressive bird, eager to fight, warlike. I'm actually heading to Ecuador soon, where these birds live. Maybe I should be careful if I see a Peruvian Meadowlark. If the bird is feeling especially bellicose that day, it might come at me and try to peck my eyes out. I guess maybe I'll take a helmet and some ski goggles. For real, though, I can't find any reference that suggests this meadowlark species is any more aggressive than the other species.

So who knows why it got that particular scientific name? As I mentioned, Meadowlark's nest on the ground. They typically build a nest of grass in a shallow depression. Most species will sometimes build sort of a domed roof over the nest, also constructed from grass. The birds might even have a little side entrance through the grass to access their nest, a tunnel. The nest ends up being well hidden in dense vegetation. And that's important because there are many predators that would happily eat the eggs, chicks, and adult meadowlarks.

We're talking snakes, raccoons, ground squirrels, foxes, weasels, skunks, badgers, and so on. Another problem for nesting meadowlarks is brood parasitism. If you listen to episode 12 of this podcast, you'd know all about brood parasitism. Interspecific brood parasitism is when the female of one bird species lays her eggs in the nest of another species. The brood parasite female takes off and lets the other birds raise her young for her. In North America, the brown-headed cowbird parasitizes the nests of eastern, western, and, presumably, Chihuahuan meadowlarks. Interestingly, the brown-headed cowbird is also a member of the New World Warwick. Blackbird family, ecturidae. This species is a generalist. It parasitizes many other songbirds,

not just meadowlarks. Another brood parasite, the shiny cowbird, lays eggs in the nests of red-breasted meadowlarks. Brood parasitism is a bad thing for meadowlarks because they end up spending energy and time on raising chicks that aren't even theirs. All the more reason for them to carefully conceal their nests down in the grass. Female meadowlarks do all of the incubating and brooding, and they spend more time feeding the chicks than the male. Western and eastern meadowlarks will often raise two broods per breeding season. It may be as little as one month after hatching that the young meadowlarks are left by their parents to fend for themselves. The little buggers flutter off

into the meadows and prairies to make their own way in the world. The oldest western meadowlark on record that I know of lived at least six and a half years. The oldest eastern meadowlark was nine. It's probably more typical for meadowlarks to live three to five years. And in those few years, they do their best to stay alive and raise as many chicks as they can. They battle over territory, probe cow pies for seeds, drink iced tea, murder other birds during snowstorms, and win the votes of school children across the land. There's a lot to admire about these birds.

The three yellow-breasted and five red-breasted meadowlark species bring color and music to the windswept grasslands of the Americas. And that concludes episode 85. This one was a little different in that the focus was on a subset of species within a family. To me, it just made sense to do it this way, especially because the three North American species are so similar in their appearance, behavior, ecology, etc. I hope you enjoyed the episode and got a deeper understanding of these birds. I want to welcome my newest supporters on Patreon. Jane Leff and France Davis. Thank you both very much for helping me to keep making these podcast episodes.

For anyone else interested in pitching in a few bucks a month to support the podcast, you can check out my Patreon page at patreon.com slash science of birds. There's also a link in the show notes in your podcast app. You can also shoot me an email if you have something you'd like to share with me. Maybe your thoughts about the podcast, or you'd like to tell me the hilarious epitaph you want engraved on your tombstone. In any case, my email address is Ivan at Scienceofbirds.com. This is episode 85. You can check out the show notes for this episode,

along with curated photos of some species I talked about today on the Science of Birds website, scienceofbirds.com. This is Ivan Philipson, and I hope you're having a great day. Peace. Thank you.