Western Meadowlark Male And Female | Slide Mouse
In courtship male faces female puffs out chest feathers and points bill straight up to show off black v spreads tail widely and flicks wings.
Western meadowlark male and female. Meadowlarks are often more easily heard than seen unless you spot a male singing from a fence post. One male may have more than one mate. Bright yellow throat and belly with a prominent black v on the breast. Male western meadowlark on a tall sagebrush nikon d500 f7 1 1 1600 iso 800 nikkor 500mm vr with 1 4x tc natural light.
Male and female birds are similar with a heavily mottled beige body thin black stripes on the wings a bold black v shaped bib on the chest and black spots or stripes on the sides. Male sings to defend nesting territory. The oldest recorded western meadowlark was at least 6 years 6 months old when it was found in colorado. Western meadowlark identification the western meadowlark s colorful and boldly marked plumage is the key to its identification.
The western meadowlark sturnella neglecta is a medium sized icterid bird about 8 5 in 22 cm in length. Creamy eye stripe and yellow lores. Male and female plumage similar. Look and listen for these stout ground feeders in.
Placed on the ground in areas with dense cover of grass in a small hollow or depression in ground. The eastern meadowlark is extremely similar and sometimes not separable. This colorful member of the blackbird family flashes a vibrant yellow breast crossed by a distinctive black v shaped band. The southwestern form of eastern meadowlark known as the lilian s is even more similar to the western than the.
Cryptically colored on back wings and tail so they blend in with a weedy grassy habitat. The females do all the incubating and brooding and most of the feeding of the young. It nests on the ground in open grasslands across western and central north america. It feeds mostly on bugs but will also feed on seeds and berries.
A male western meadowlark usually has two mates at the same time.