Mystery Bird: Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta

Grrl, 'easy' is a pretty relative term - this guy's easy to genus, with a little experience, but it'll take a fair bit more to take it to species.

I wouldn't say that Paul, surely the relative darkness of the barring (this one being lighter) is a key difference between points on the compass?

Without being able to see the throat and face, should I be looking for other clues- is there something I may have "neglected"?

Other than the relative amounts of white in the tail in flght (which we obviousy can't judge here), the only supporting field mark would be the "somewhat" spotted nature of the flank markings as opposed to "somewhat" streaked, but that seems to be such a subtle difference, I wonder how useful it would be to use that as a hard and fast rule and I think I see the suggestion of enough streaking on the cheeks to rule out the possibility of this being a nod towards Ms. Balwin!

Actually, David, I'm used to looking at the tertial and central tail feathers. At this point in the year, the throat markings are dangerous to use -- the yellow is largely concealed by pale feather tips. You're right, the flank markings seem awfully subjective.

Of course, near Seattle or Phoenix this gets a bit more confused.

I was also reflecting on the fact that Grrl gets a number of novices visiting here. (And the more, the better)

It is interesting, now that I think of it, that everyone else has neglected to comment on this bird.

Thanks Paul, my oblique references were with regard to any novices stopping through!

I was not necessarily referring to the throat markings per se, but the extent of yellow coloring on the face, especially near the malar region, which many refer to as one of the most definitive field marks, and then also the darkness of coloring on the crown and eye stripes which I see reflected in the relative narrowness and lightness of the barring across the tail and wings.

Maybe this is something an easterner would say but have you ever chased a Meadowlark around a field? If you can photograph it, it's a Western Meadowlark. The photo itself also suggests Western based on overall grayish tones especially wing coverts (greater) and lack of buff to underparts and supercilium (eyebrow). Show would like hear it mutter all the same. I've been wrong before.

I see the flanks as being more 'whitish' than 'buffy.'

I glanced earlier, and thought, Meadowlark? But when I looked in my book, the pictures of Eastern and Western showed a lot of yellow, and this bird just doesn't seem at all yellow. So I went out to lunch without exploring the book much further.

Would the lack of yellow be seasonal or maturity? Or was I totally off?

Bardiac,

If there is any yellow- face, throat, breast, and belly, it would all be seen from a front view, hence Grrl's chuckles when she and Mr. Kennedy liaise!

Better to compare and contrast the two species you think it might be from similar perspectives to get a firm idea, then follow some of psweet's suggestions at #4- this location is indeed an area of overlap between the two.

Paul @ #5, apparently Audubon (Vol VII, Birds of America, 1844) was neglectful also!

thanks psweet for reminding me that i should give a few birds that are less challenging so the beginners can have a taste of identification victory, too. if you all are ready to help them out, tomorrow will be one of those birds, so be ready to dig deep for helpful ID hints and clues.

Thanks David and psweet (Paul?) for your clues. I think this is a Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta, neglected by Audubon until he recognized both the Western and the Eastern after Lewis and Clark! ("different points on the compass")

The guides say that the Western has lighter barring along the back and tail, is more grey than brown, has spots along the flanks instead of streaks, and has less distinctive markings on the head. The best mark is the song which is more complex and melodic than the Eastern's.

David: you always have a twist in the story, who is Ms. Balwin- a relative of Audubon or Lewis and Clark? LOL!

LOL, Maggie! I apologise actually- I misspeled the name which should have been "Baldwin"! Lilian Baldwin was the name of the woman after whom a very light, almost Western Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna lilianae, was named in honor of her collection of this subspecies from the Huachuca Mountains in Arizona- this is a very recent article on "Lilian's" Meadowlark in the November 2009 American Birding Association publication "Birding".

Paul, I found this summary of the Maryland/DC Records Committee skins workshop of February 2009 which has some great comparisons, including photographs, between S. neglecta and S. magna, of the distinction between the two species- section 3.2 starts on page 5 (through p.10) and the photos from 3.2.1 through 3.2.6 are great references.

Further commentary, from the 10,000 Birds birding blog and Rich Ditch's bird photography blog describing identification of the Western Meadowlark might prove useful- interesting for me is the great differences between the two birds featured on each, one from October 2009 and the other March 2008, essentially still "winter", but one distinctly lighter than the other, although some of the marks we have described to this point- yellow marking on the malar region, spots as opposed to streaks along the flank, and the tertials/tail colorations- do confirm Western.

There are only two subspecies recorded for the Western, the nominate neglecta and confluenta, while there are at least 17 for the Eastern- while there are some instances of hybridization where both species meet, they are few and far between and because of intraspecies differences, including song, their offsppring don't do well- they are however, as opposed to us mere humans, very good at differentiating between the two species!

Wow David, all those links @#14/15 are really useful- much better than any of the guide books or online sites I could find, thanks!

Neat link, David, thanks. It would have been nice, however, if they could have given dates that the birds were collected. Given how much of Meadowlark plumage variation is due to feather wear, that could be critical information.

I have to admit that I missed the Baldwin reference -- but I pretty much ruled out lilianae based on range. And in fact, the name neglecta was apparently given in 'honor' of Audubon's oversight -- he felt he should have realized there were two species much sooner.

Hey Paul, I certainly agree re. the dates of collection...

Found another interesting article on the distribution of the Western and Eastern Meadowlark's (and according to their argument, Lilian's as a separate species) from a 2008 issue of The Auk.

I would have to agree with Maggie's sentiment- if only there was a truly comprehensive resource with [dated] photos taken from all the important angles identifying down to subspecies, including distribution ranges, and perhaps any important behavioral notes that would aid in identification, I am sure it would prove outstandingly useful.

(any further thoughts on the Tawny/Wahlberg Eagle?)

Let's see -- Maggie's idea would have to be online -- any printed version would be insanely large. But really neat, if anyone has any thoughts of trying it.

I've heard that some authors treat lilianae as a separate species, but I don't know what the current view is.

Re. the eagle, seems to me we're at a point where we're debating which marks are more important, and I don't see any data to resolve that, so I thought I'd just wait and see. For what it's worth, I had it down to Tawny or Wahlberg's myself, so we're not far apart.