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| Western Meadowlark |
The Western Meadowlark is a handsome-enough bird, with a bright yellow breast and a striking black "V" on its chest. However, it is the bird's song that sets the meadowlark apart from all the other birds in the western prairies. It is a rich, bubbling, gurgling flute-like melody that resonates in the springtime in farms and fields. An old man who grew up on a Nebraska farm told me that as a boy he learned this little ditty, to describe the song of a Western Meadowlark, "Mary climbed the fence and tore her petticoat." Can't you just imagine farm boys on the way to school reciting that silly little phrase as they hear meadowlarks singing?
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| Western Meadowlark singing from wire cable |
Male Western Meadowlarks will sing for hours from any available prominent perch. They are extremely fond of fence posts, but they will use utility wires, barbed wire, or road signs. Of course in the old days they had to make do with sturdy weed stalks or some other natural perch.
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| Western Meadowlark on barbed wire |
Western Meadowlarks are found in Western North America, from southern Canada to Mexico, and east as far as Michigan and Louisiana. In the east they are replaced by their close relative, the Eastern Meadowlark. The two species are almost identical in appearance, and are best identified by song. The song of the Eastern Meadowlark, though pretty in its own way, does not compare to that of the Western Meadowlark. Meriwether Lewis is credited with first identifying the Western Meadowlark. On June 22, 1805, he wrote, "There is a kind of larke here that much resembles the bird called the oldfield lark [Eastern Meadowlark] with a yellow breast and a black spot on the croop... the beak is somewhat longer and more curved and the note differs considerably."
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| Juvenile Western Meadowlark |
Six states have made the Western Meadowlark their official state bird: Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota. These birds are lovely to look at; they grace us with beautiful songs and they are recognized with high honor and respect throughout the country. For me, what really separates them from other birds is the anticipation with which I look forward to the sight of my first meadowlark sometime in late March. I go out searching for them along country roads; I long to see and hear them! True heralds of spring, Western Meadowlarks simply make me happy. That is why they have a high place of honor on my favorite bird list.
This morning's been quiet, guessing due to the cool that came in overnight. But the last few, "my" Meadowlarks have been singing yet when I step out the door in the early morning. Both Eastern and Western. I am grateful to live in a place where they overlap. :)
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