Meadowlark

Every BirdNote episode starts with a solid grounding in research. When we play a bird sound for you, first we make sure you're hearing the right species. But not just that — we bear in mind the distinction between songs and calls, and we make sure the recording comes from an appropriate…

En 2022, ornitólogos reconocieron al pradero chihuahuense como una especie única, en lugar de una subespecie del pradero oriental. Recibe su nombre de la región del norte de México en donde se encuentran fácilmente. Los praderos chihuahuenses viven en paisajes de pastizales desérticos…

In 2022, ornithologists recognized the Chihuahuan Meadowlark as a separate species rather than a subspecies of the Eastern Meadowlark. Named after the northern region of Mexico where they're easy to find, Chihuahuan Meadowlarks live in dry desert grasslands. They form a distinct population…

In this story from Nimiipuu culture, Meadowlark is likened to the ‘reporter’ of Western grasslands, singing its song from the tops of fenceposts and trees. This story takes place before the time of people. Meadowlark warned Coyote about a Monster that was eating all the animals in the…

Tykee James is a Senior Government Affairs Representative at The Wilderness Society in DC. Gridlock in Washington can be a real challenge to protecting birds, but a bill called Recovering America's Wildlife Act is giving Tykee hope. The bill would provide $1.4 billion a year in funding for…

In his poem “Trying to Fall Asleep in South Dakota,” poet Tom Gannon wrote about meadowlarks. He might have been hearing a Western Meadowlark, which nests across South Dakota in the summer. But if he’d been in the south-central part of the state, it might have been an Eastern Meadowlark…

Over a century ago, a Nebraska man, an audiologist named Solon Towne, “collected” the songs of meadowlarks. He’d saunter about his farm, listening. Then he’d hurry back to his desk to transcribe the birds’ songs into musical notes. To help him remember the songs, he added words. One…

Gordon Hempton, the Soundtracker, likens the joy he feels after a day of recording Western Meadowlarks (their eastern cousin is seen here on the left...) to the experience of John Muir, who knew individual American Dippers (also known as Water Ouzels; seen here on the right) by their songs…

No song epitomizes the open spaces of the American West like that of the Western Meadowlark. Indeed, the song of the Western Meadowlark can be rightly acclaimed the essential musical theme of much of the West. It's a bird of grass - and sage-lands, fields and pastures, meadows and prairies…

The clear, whistled music of the Eastern Meadowlark is the unmistakable anthem of eastern North America's farmlands and open country. The Western Meadowlark and its sweet, liquid notes epitomize the natural expanses of the American West. Sadly, birds of such grassy habitats are among the…