COMMON NAME: Meadowlark
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Genus Sturnella
FAMILY: Icteridae

Click on any photo to enlarge.

This is either a Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) or an Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna). In my area, the range of the two species overlap. It’s difficult, and sometimes even impossible, for even bird experts to tell them apart without hearing their song.

As you can see, this bird has a black “necklace”, a black stripe under the eye, a prominent black beak, black marking on the brown and back of the head, a yellow throat and belly, and streaking on its flanks.

This is the best photo I have so far, some of my first tries at taking bird photos. After early 2012, I haven’t noticed their presence much. They’ve probably been around, just that their numbers are fewer in this area outside of winter. I hope to see more of them to get better photos. For now, I’ll have to settle for just posting/documenting what I have. (1 Mar 2012)

Here is a photo of a large group of Meadowlarks taking off from the power lines. If you can look closely enough, you can see the black necklaces on some of them. (20 Feb 2012)