Western Meadowlark Field Mark Checklist

In Winter (Basic) Plumage

Head Detail

Head detail in winter Western Meadowlark (WEME) is key. The lateral crown stripes and post-ocular wedge are typically medium-brown, which contributes to weakened contrast with the adjacent areas of the head. In Eastern Meadowlark (EAME), the lateral crown stripes and post-ocular wedge are quite blackish; this colouration draws forth strong contrast with the adjacent areas of the head.

Body Detail

Overall, a basic plumage WEME is washed-out and “sandy” in appearance. The edging to the feather tracts throughout the upperparts is less rufous, as in EAME, and more “sandy” and cold-toned. EAME is notably higher in contrast, with stronger saturation to the plumage, showcasing higher contrast between the various feather tracts (head and body detail) than on WEME.
The base colouration to the greater coverts, folded secondaries and tertials is pale and more greyish in WEME, and typically is darker and warmer brown in EAME.
The greater coverts and folded secondaries and tertials on a WEME showcase thin, parallel-sided blackish barring on a pale base colour. On these same feather tracks, thick confluent blackish barring occurs on EAME, overtop a darker brown base colouration. The net result is a darker wing fold.
The flanks and undertail coverts (UTC) are paler and greyer on WEME and buffier on EAME.
WEME are longer winged than EAME.

Tail Detail

On WEME, the central tail feathers show free, parallel-sided blackish bars on a pale background. On EAME, the bars widen toward the rachis and become confluent with adjoining bars, along the mid-vein. Thus, the tail feathers appear dark with deep pale notches along the fringes on EAME (Jaramillo and Burke 1999).
WEME typically has less white in the tail than on EAME; however, there appears to be some overlap in this feature (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). Look for the amount of dark on R4 (third from the outside) and the outer two rectrices (R5 and R6). WEME tends to have a mostly dark R4 and noticeable dark terminal shaft streaks on R5 and R6 (Jaramillo and Burke 1999).

Photos

Photo: Western Meadowlark in Napanee, Lennox & Addington County. 25 January 2022. Luke Berg.

Photo: Eastern Meadowlark near Point Petre, Prince Edward County. 25 January 2022. Luke Berg.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Luke Berg for granting permission to use his photos in this document. Luke photographed both species of meadowlarks within several hours on a sunny day, availing an Apples-to-Apples comparison of features. Thank you to Brandon Holden for all previous discussions on the intricacies and challenges of meadowlark ID.

References

Jaramillo, A., and P. Burke (1999). New World Blackbirds: The Icterids. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

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Click here for a PDF copy of the Western Meadowlark Field Mark Checklist web article

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Jon P. Ruddy

eontbird@gmail.com

26 January 2022