Mystery Bird: Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna

grrlscientist — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:59:54 +0000

tags: Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz

~~[Mystery bird]~~ Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, photographed at Brazoria Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 31 July 2009 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

Review all mystery birds to date.

grrlscientist Wed, 09/09/2009 - 03:59

Off topic--do you know if that background blur is photoshop (or equivalent) or incredibly talented and fortunate setup? With f/8.0, I was expecting more detail in the background, but it is also evident from foreground blur that this is a pretty narrow depth of field.

knowing the photographer's work, i find it incredibly unlikely that photoshop is involved. i'd guess it is an "incredibly talented and fortunate setup" and probably a huge lens as well. (i'll ask joseph what he did, but he's relocating at the moment, so he probably won't answer).

Well, it's either a western or eastern meadowlark. :-)

Going by the date and location, the Sibley range maps would make eastern much more likely. Add to that the "mostly white malar" that Sibley talks about, and that this bird seems to show, and I'm willing to go with eastern.

But I wouldn't want to bet the house on it.

Given the contrast between the white malar and the yellow throat, I would be willing to call it an Eastern on the basis of the malar stripe -- a breeding plumaged Western would show a strong invasion of yellow just behind the bill on the malar. Unfortunately, in the fall or winter, the yellow and white colors are obscured by the tips of fresh feathers, and this mark becomes useless. Given the date here, that doesn't seem to be an issue. That same contrast also seems to rule out juveniles -- it appears that they resemble fall adults. It does appear as if there is some active molt going on as well.

There is another set of marks that is useful for these two species, and you can see them here. On the tertials and the central tail feathers, Westerns would show much thinner dark bars without any hint of a dark stripe down the middle. (At least in Texas.) This bird shows dark bars that nearly join at the shaft on the tertials, and definite dark central stripes on the tail feathers.

Westerns also have one fewer white tail feather on each side, but this is impossible to judge unless the tail is spread, which it isn't here. (Unfortunately, this mark is usually only visible in flight, and my eyes, at least, aren't quick enough to count feathers at that point.)

Mystery Bird: Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna

grrlscientist — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:59:42 +0000

Mystery Bird: Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna

tags: Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz

~~[Mystery bird]~~ Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, photographed in Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 March 2009 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

Review all mystery birds to date.

grrlscientist Sat, 06/27/2009 - 03:59

Western Meadowlark; white malar

Huh. According to my trusty big Sibley, it's the _eastern_ meadowlark that has the "mostly white malar". The western is shown with more yellow there.

I'm wouldn't be willing to risk even my lunch money on it, but if I had to pick one (which I guess I do), I'd pick eastern. But in the real world I'd use my ears, and be much more confident of the ID.

My National Geographic field guide says of the Western, "in spring and summer yellow extends well into the submoustachial area, especially in males." If the photo was taken in March, makes me think it's Eastern. But I also wouldn't bet my lunch money on it.

Right: Eastern; I got confused.

Dang, I'll take your words for it, but I was hoping it was a Western. I miss the heck out of them, these local Easterns aren't up to snuff, songwise. I remember reading somewhere that there are separate eastern species or subspecies, a pocket of them got cut off during the last ice age. rb

Is it an Eastern? Westerns look more round/less stripey to me. (Or at least the one on my drivers license does...which is why it's obvious I am pretty lacking in knowledge about birds.)

Just thought I'd point out a couple of extra things on this bird that make it appear extra interesting.

First, I agree with the consensus that this is an Eastern Meadowlark. The white malar is the only solid field mark visible from this angle. The apparent contrast between the crown stripes and the supercilium also fit Eastern better, but this is a tricky thing to judge.

What I find interesting about the bird is that the flanks appear quite clean white (Sibley's suggests a buffy wash for Easterns, white for Westerns -- I have to admit I haven't bothered to look that closely at our local Easterns), with just a few spots and/or streaks. If anything that is suggestive of Western. Which just goes to show, sometimes the birds don't read the book.