tags: Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Western Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta, photographed on the Attwater Prairie Chicken Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 June 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso40.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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western meadowlark i think
Without checking a guide: large bill + short tail + yellow breast = eastern meadowlark
I was hoping to see one this past year birding in the NYC area but I missed this species.
Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), the state bird of Kansas. Spotting rather than streaks on the flanks, distinct narrow bars on rectrices.
This is a stocky brown bird with a short tail and yellow breast, so pretty clearly a meadowlark. Unfortunately, Texas is one of the areas where the ranges of the Eastern and Western overlap. With no song to work with, and a camera angle that prevents us from getting a really good look at how widely the yellow extends, getting this to species is tricky.
I'm going to go Western Meadowlark as my ID. Marginally more common in Texas than Eastern, and I can convince myself it has paler sides than I would expect for an Eastern.
It is a Meadowlark but, without hearing the song who knows if it and Eastern or Western.