Western Meadowlark🐦

Photo: Kevin Cole · CC BY 2.0

SpeciesPasseriformesIcteridae
Birds

🐦Western Meadowlark

Sturnella neglecta Audubon, 1844

The western meadowlark is a medium-sized icterid bird, about 20 cm (7.9 in) in length. It is found across western and central North America and is a partial migrant, breeding in western Canada and western United States west of the Great Lakes, and in northern Mexico. In the northern half of the breeding range, the birds migrate south for the winter, while further south they are resident all year. The winter range also extends south and southeast of the breeding range, as far as central Mexico, and east to western Florida. The western meadowlark nests on the ground in open grasslands and shrublands. It feeds on bugs and seeds. The western meadowlark has distinctive calls described as watery or flute-like, which distinguish it from the closely related eastern meadowlark. The western meadowlark is the state bird of six states; in Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
None yet
Photos
1
Measurements
12
vs you
≈ 1/620th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2018.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
0.1 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
10 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Western Meadowlark

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
0.1 kg
AVONET
Other figures ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

By sex

  • Male106 kgWikidataQ1368136
  • Female89 kgWikidataQ1368136

Figures vary

  • 0.09 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Tail length
0.07 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.12 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.03 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.04 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
10 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
14 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
about 3
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Omnivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Grassland
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Terrestrial
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
0.1 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Western Meadowlark yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderPasseriformes
  5. ›familyIcteridae
  6. ›genusSturnella
  7. ›speciesSturnella neglecta
Full lineage
  1. superclassTetrapoda
  2. orderSauria
  3. classBirds · Aves
  4. orderPerching birds · Passeriformes
All 10 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
  10. orderPerching birds · Passeriformes
More

More about the Western Meadowlark

In other languages
alosa pradenca de l'oest (ca), vlhovec západní (cs), Vestlig Englærke (da), Westlicher Lerchenstärling (de), Sturnella neglecta (es), huilupreeriaturpiaali (fi) … and 20 more languages
Videos

No videos of the Western Meadowlark yet.

We have 44,653 videos so far, and none of them features this animal yet.

All videos →
Tools

Compare the Western Meadowlark

Pick a tool — the Western Meadowlark is already selected.