Western Meadowlark - Montana Field Guide

Western Meadowlark - Sturnella neglecta

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S5B

Agency Status
USFWS: MBTA
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Medium-sized terrestrial songbird with long, slender bill, short tail with rather rigid rectrices, and long legs and toes. Nostril ovate, overhang by prominent horny operculum. Crown dark with light median stripe. A light line over eye becomes bright yellow from eye to bill. Upperparts with intricate concealing pattern of buffs, browns, and black streaks and bars. Underparts bright yellow, the sides, flanks, and undertail-coverts dull white, broadly streaked and spotted with dusky black. Outer wing and tail feathers barred with black and brown; outer rectrices partly white. Adult has a black shield-shaped or crescentic patch on chest. Sexes similar in coloration. Female smaller and slightly less strongly marked (Lanyon 1994).

For a comprehensive review of the conservation status, habitat use, and ecology of this and other Montana bird species, please see Marks et al. 2016, Birds of Montana.

Montana Range Range Descriptions

All Ranges

Summer

Migratory

(Click legend blocks to view individual ranges)

Western Hemisphere Range

eBird Occurrence Map

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Relative Density

Recency

SUMMER (Feb 16 - Dec 14)

Direct Evidence of Breeding

Indirect Evidence of Breeding

No Evidence of Breeding

WINTER (Dec 15 - Feb 15)

Regularly Observed

Not Regularly Observed

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)

In the Bozeman area, normal migration periods are not determined for spring, and are September 5 to October 25 in the fall.

Most common in native grasslands and pastures, but also in hay and alfalfa fields, weedy borders of croplands, roadsides, orchards, or other open areas; occasionally desert grassland. Preference shown for habitats with good grass and lighter cover (Lanyon 1994).

Details on Creation and Suggested Uses and Limitations
How Associations Were Made
We associated the use and habitat quality (common or occasional) of each of the 82 ecological systems mapped in Montana for vertebrate animal species that regularly breed, overwinter, or migrate through the state by:
1. Using personal observations and reviewing literature that summarize the breeding, overwintering, or migratory habitat requirements of each species (Dobkin 1992, Hart et al. 1998, Hutto and Young 1999, Maxell 2000, Foresman 2012, Adams 2003, and Werner et al. 2004);
2. Evaluating structural characteristics and distribution of each ecological system relative to the species' range and habitat requirements;
3. Examining the observation records for each species in the state-wide point observation database associated with each ecological system;
4. Calculating the percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system to get a measure of "observations versus availability of habitat".
Species that breed in Montana were only evaluated for breeding habitat use, species that only overwinter in Montana were only evaluated for overwintering habitat use, and species that only migrate through Montana were only evaluated for migratory habitat use. In general, species were listed as associated with an ecological system if structural characteristics of used habitat documented in the literature were present in the ecological system or large numbers of point observations were associated with the ecological system. However, species were not listed as associated with an ecological system if there was no support in the literature for use of structural characteristics in an ecological system, even if point observations were associated with that system. Common versus occasional association with an ecological system was assigned based on the degree to which the structural characteristics of an ecological system matched the preferred structural habitat characteristics for each species as represented in scientific literature. The percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system was also used to guide assignment of common versus occasional association. If you have any questions or comments on species associations with ecological systems, please contact the Montana Natural Heritage Program's Senior Zoologist.

Suggested Uses and Limitations
Species associations with ecological systems should be used to generate potential lists of species that may occupy broader landscapes for the purposes of landscape-level planning. These potential lists of species should not be used in place of documented occurrences of species (this information can be requested at: mtnhp.org/requests) or systematic surveys for species and evaluations of habitat at a local site level by trained biologists. Users of this information should be aware that the land cover data used to generate species associations is based on imagery from the late 1990s and early 2000s and was only intended to be used at broader landscape scales. Land cover mapping accuracy is particularly problematic when the systems occur as small patches or where the land cover types have been altered over the past decade. Thus, particular caution should be used when using the associations in assessments of smaller areas (e.g., evaluations of public land survey sections). Finally, although a species may be associated with a particular ecological system within its known geographic range, portions of that ecological system may occur outside of the species' known geographic range.

Literature Cited
- Adams, R.A. 2003. Bats of the Rocky Mountain West; natural history, ecology, and conservation. Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado. 289 p.
- Dobkin, D. S. 1992. Neotropical migrant land birds in the Northern Rockies and Great Plains. USDA Forest Service, Northern Region. Publication No. R1-93-34. Missoula, MT.
- Foresman, K.R. 2012. Mammals of Montana. Second edition. Mountain Press Publishing, Missoula, Montana. 429 pp.
- Hart, M.M., W.A. Williams, P.C. Thornton, K.P. McLaughlin, C.M. Tobalske, B.A. Maxell, D.P. Hendricks, C.R. Peterson, and R.L. Redmond. 1998. Montana atlas of terrestrial vertebrates. Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT. 1302 p.
- Hutto, R.L. and J.S. Young. 1999. Habitat relationships of landbirds in the Northern Region, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station RMRS-GTR-32. 72 p.
- Maxell, B.A. 2000. Management of Montana's amphibians: a review of factors that may present a risk to population viability and accounts on the identification, distribution, taxonomy, habitat use, natural history, and the status and conservation of individual species. Report to U.S. Forest Service Region 1. Missoula, MT: Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana. 161 p.
- Werner, J.K., B.A. Maxell, P. Hendricks, and D. Flath. 2004. Amphibians and reptiles of Montana. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. 262 p.

Commonly Associated with these Ecological Systems
Grassland Systems
Human Land Use
Recently Disturbed or Modified
Shrubland, Steppe and Savanna Systems
Sparse and Barren Systems
- Great Plains Cliff and Outcrop
Wetland and Riparian Systems
Occasionally Associated with these Ecological Systems
Forest and Woodland Systems
Grassland Systems
- Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Mesic Meadow
Recently Disturbed or Modified
Shrubland, Steppe and Savanna Systems
Sparse and Barren Systems
- Great Plains Badlands
- Shale Badland
Wetland and Riparian Systems

Diet consists largely of vegetable matter (grain and weed seeds) and animal matter (insects). Favorite insect foods include beetles, weevils, wireworms, cutworms, grasshoppers, and crickets. Seasonal differences: grain during winter and early spring, insects late spring and summer, weed seeds in fall (Lanyon 1994).

Females arrive 2 to 4 weeks after male. Nests are located in pasture, prairie, or other grassland habitat; rarely in cultivated fields. Well concealed, on ground, often in shallow depressions and usually in fairly dense vegetation. Eggs usually ovate, ground-colored white and speckled. Clutch size ranges 3 to 7 eggs (Lanyon 1994). Near Fortine, egg dates range from April 30 to June 23. Statewide, nesting is from the 2nd week of May to the 1st week of August.

Literature Cited AboveLegend: View Online Publication
- Marks, J.S., P. Hendricks, and D. Casey. 2016. Birds of Montana. Arrington, VA. Buteo Books. 659 pages.
Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
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