Western meadowlark

A western meadowlark in Oregon, showing the yellow throat and black chest V.Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
A western meadowlark on a fence post, a favorite singing perch.Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

Western meadowlark at a glance

Sturnella neglecta MEA-doh-lark; Sturnella neglecta is stur-NEL-uh neg-LEK-tuh

Type: Bird · songbird
Diet: Omnivore
Size: About as long as a dollar bill end to end (8.5 to 9.5 inches / 22 to 24 cm), with a wingspan close to a sheet of paper turned sideways (14.5 inches / 37 cm), and a weight about the same as a slice of bread (3.4 ounces / 96 g).
Lifespan: The oldest banded western meadowlark on record, in Colorado, was at least 6 years and 6 months old.
Conservation: Not federally listed, but declining. North Dakota lists it a Species of Greatest Conservation Need — its population there has fallen 42% since 1970, tracking a loss of native grassland habitat.

Eats grain, weed seeds, insects, grasshoppers, beetles

It walks and forages on the ground in open grassland, picking grain, weed seeds, and insects out of the grass, and favors fence posts, rocks, and shrubs as singing perches.

Should you worry?

None. It is a ground-nesting grassland bird that flies off if approached; it poses no danger, though its nest is easy to step on by accident in tall grass.

Lewis and Clark rode straight through western meadowlark country and never flagged the bird as anything new. Neither did most of the explorers and settlers who came after — it looked so much like the meadowlark already known back east, yellow throat, black V on the chest, that nobody thought to look twice.

John James Audubon did. He noticed the western bird’s song was nothing like its eastern look-alike’s — not the same whistle at all, but a bubbling, flutelike run of notes — and worked out that two different species had been hiding inside one common name. When he gave the western bird its scientific name, he called it neglecta: Latin for overlooked. The name records exactly what nobody had bothered to hear.

Along the scenic drives at Theodore Roosevelt, that history plays out the same way it always has: the bird on the fence post looks like it could be almost anything with a yellow throat, and the song is what actually tells you what you’re looking at. Six states, including three that border these parks, eventually put the western meadowlark on their license plates and welcome signs. Close your eyes at the next pullout and listen for the flute before you bother checking the throat.

Did you know?

Its scientific name, neglecta, means "overlooked" in Latin — a nod to how long the bird went unnoticed as its own species, mistaken for its eastern look-alike.
The western meadowlark is the state bird of six states: Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oregon.
In North Dakota, the western meadowlark's population has dropped 42% since 1970, mostly from the loss of native grazed grassland.

Common questions

Is a western meadowlark actually a lark?

No. Despite the name, it's a member of the blackbird family. "Lark" stuck from early settlers who thought it resembled European larks.

How do you tell a western meadowlark from an eastern meadowlark?

By ear, not by eye — the two look almost the same, yellow throat and black chest V included, but their songs are completely different. The western bird's is a bubbling, flutelike run of notes.

Why is it called "neglecta"?

Because for decades naturalists, including Lewis and Clark, passed right through its range without realizing it was a separate species from the eastern meadowlark. John James Audubon finally named it Sturnella neglecta — "overlooked" — once he noticed the song was different.

Are western meadowlark populations doing okay?

Not entirely. North Dakota's Game and Fish Department lists it a Species of Greatest Conservation Need; the state's population has fallen 42% since 1970 as native grassland has been lost.