The First Record of Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) in British Columbia. By Rick Toochin and E. Alan Russell. Published: June 3, 2023.

The Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) is a medium sized passerine that is found throughout eastern North America (Dunn and Alderfer 2017). In the breeding season the Eastern Meadowlark ranges from eastern Minnesota, northern Michigan, southern Ontario, southern Quebec, southeastern New Brunswick, southwestern Nova Scotia, south to southern Florida (excluding the Keys), the Gulf Coast, and west to southwestern South Dakota, western Nebraska, central and southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma (Reinking 2004), and northwestern and southeastern Texas (Sibley 2000).

There are 16 recognized subspecies of the Eastern Meadowlark of which 4 are found in North America (Jaster et al. 2020). Some authorities believe that some populations could be split into new species. Most notably in North America is the Lillian’s Meadowlark (S. m. lilianae) which is currently a subspecies of the Eastern Meadowlark and might be split into its own species in the near future (Jaster et al. 2020). This subspecies is found in central and southeastern Arizona, central New Mexico, and southwestern Texas south to northern Sonora and northern Chihuahua (Corman and Wise-Gervais 2005, Howell and Webb 2010)

The Eastern Meadowlark breeds in native grasslands, pastures, and savannas, but also in hay and alfalfa fields, weedy borders of croplands, roadsides, orchards, golf courses, reclaimed strip mines, airports, shrubby overgrown fields, or other open areas; tall-grass prairie (western edge of range) and desert grassland in southwestern populations (Jaster et al. 2020). The Eastern Meadowlark has preference for habitats with good grass and litter cover (Wiens and Rotenberry 1981b). In areas of sympatry with Western Meadowlarks in the north-central and plains states, it usually selects more poorly drained grasslands of lowlands (Lanyon 1956a). In desert grasslands of the southwest, habitat preference is often curiously reversed, with Eastern Meadowlarks selecting more xeric grasslands (Lanyon 1962, Phillips et al. 1964, Rohwer 1976).

The Eastern Meadowlark is found throughout Mexico from Tamaulipas on the Caribbean slope, Durango on the Pacific slope, and Guanajuato in the interior south (except in Pacific lowlands) to southwestern Guatemala and southwestern Yucatán Peninsula (Howell and Webb 2010). It is also found along the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, central and southern Belize, the interior western Honduras and coastal eastern Honduras, northern El Salvador, and western Nicaragua (Monroe 1968, Howell and Webb 2010).

The Eastern Meadowlark is also found throughout Costa Rica (Stiles and Skutch 1989) and along the Pacific slope of Panama from Chirique east to eastern Panama province (Wetmore et al. 1984). This species is found throughout Cuba (including Cayo Coco, off northern Camagüey province, and Isle of Youth [Pines]; and in South America in northern and eastern Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana, and northeastern Brazil (Jaster et al. 2020).

The Eastern Meadowlark winters generally from central Arizona, southern New Mexico, northern Texas, eastern Kansas, eastern Nebraska, southeastern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, southern Michigan, southern Ontario, and southeastern Massachusetts south throughout the remainder of its breeding range in the United States (Dunn and Alderfer 2019). The precise northern limit of the Eastern Meadowlark’s winter range in the Midwestern states is not exactly known because of the difficulty separating this species in winter from the very similar Western Meadowlark (Jaster et al. 2020).  West Indian, Middle American, and South American populations of the Eastern Meadowlark are essentially sedentary and could possibly be separate species (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). In the winter months, the Eastern Meadowlark prefers open country, including cultivated fields and feedlots; and marshes (Jaster et al. 2020). The northern limit of this species’ winter range is correlated with temperature. It is absent from regions having mean minimum winter temperature below -12°C (Root 1988).

In western North America the Eastern Meadowlark is a casual species north from northeastern Colorado (Leukering and Pieplow 2009), Montana, Idaho, Alberta, Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, central Ontario, west central and eastern Quebec, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland (Sibley 2000, Dunn and Alderfer 2017, Jaster et al. 2020). There are two winter records for Bermuda (Amos 1991).

Along the west coast of North America, the Eastern Meadowlark is an accidental vagrant migrant with only a handful of accepted records. In California, there is a single accepted record by the California Bird Records Committee of a singing adult bird observed in the community of Day in Modoc County, from June 10 June- July 30, 2018 (Tietz and McCaskie 2020). There is also a single accepted record for Washington State by the Washington Bird Records Committee from Marblemount, in Skagit County, from June 1-4, 2012 (Mlodinow and Bartels 2016).  The Eastern Meadowlark was recently added to the list of British Columbia with a photographed and video recorded bird from the Hope area (R. Toochin Pers. Comm.).

 

The identification of the Eastern Meadowlark is covered in all standard field guides for North America. This is a medium sized passerine species that overall varies in size depending on the subspecies involved. The nominate subspecies (S. m. magna) measures 24 cm in length, with a wingspan of 35 cm, and weighs 90 grams (Sibley 2000, Dunn and Alderfer 2017). 

 

Overall, this species has a long, slender bill, short tail with rather rigid rectrices, and long legs and toes (Jaster et al. 2020). The crown is dark with a median light stripe (Dunn and Alderfer 2017). There is a light line over the eye, becoming yellow from eye to bill (Sibley 2000). In adults, the bill is slaty or a dull clay color (Dunn and Alderfer 2017). The upper mandible is black or dusky edged with paler tones; the lower mandible is grayish blue with a dusky tip in life, grayish in dried skin (Ridgway 1902, Roberts 1932). In nestling’s, the edges of the mouth are bright yellow; the mouth lining is pinkish (Ridgway 1902, Roberts 1932). The bill is pinkish buff in juveniles (Ridgway 1902, Roberts 1932). The upperparts have an intricate concealing pattern of buffs, browns, and black streaks and bars (Sibley 2000). The underparts are bright yellow; the sides, flanks, and undertail-coverts are dull white, broadly streaked and spotted with dusky black (Dunn and Alderfer 2017). The legs and feet in adults are dusky pinkish in life, pale brownish in dried skin, and pinkish buff in juveniles (Ridgway 1902, Roberts 1932). The wing and tail feathers are barred with black and brown (Sibley 2000). The outer rectrices are mostly white, exposed conspicuously in flight and often flashed nervously when the bird is on the ground (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). There is an obvious black crescent on the chest of adult birds (Sibley 2000). The flight style is a series of rapid, shallow wingbeats with the wings held stiffly downward, alternating with short glides (Dunn and Alderfer 2017). The sexes are similar in coloration and pattern, but female birds are smaller and slightly less strongly marked than is observed on the male (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). They are best differentiated by wing length (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). Juvenile birds have buffy-white throats and streaked breasts through the early fall but are indistinguishable from adults after the Preformative molt (Jaramillo and Burke 1999).

 

The Eastern Meadowlark is difficult to distinguish from the similar looking Western Meadowlark, but are differentiated by vocal differences and head, flank, and tail patterns (Jaramillo and Burke 1999, McGowan 2001, Leukering and Pieplow 2009). The yellow of the throat on the Eastern Meadowlark does not extend onto the malar region in most subspecies (Jaramillo and Burke 1999, McGowan 2001, Dunn and Alderfer 2017). The malar region is yellow on the Western Meadowlark and the Eastern Meadowlark averages bolder and blacker head streaks (Jaramillo and Burke 1999, McGowan 2001, Dunn and Alderfer 2017). The flank streaking on the Eastern Meadowlark averages heavier and is more coalesced (Jaster et al. 2020). The Eastern Meadowlark averages whiter in the outer tail feathers, especially on the subspecies (S. m. lilianae) of the southwestern desert region (McGowan 2001, Leukering and Pieplow 2009, Jaster et al. 2020). The Eastern Meadowlark appears on average darker and browner above, with less discrete barring in the wings and tail (Jaramillo and Burke 1999, McGowan 2001, Leukering and Pieplow 2009). Well-documented cases in nature of one species giving vocalizations of the other and of “intermediate” song are rare; marked differences in songs and calls are the most reliable means of field identification (Jaster et al. 2020). Identification of Eastern Meadowlark from Western Meadowlark is subtle and challenging, but not impossible with good views of the spread tail, facial pattern differences, and call notes (McGowan 2001, Dunn and Alderfer 2017, Jaster et al. 2020).

 

The Eastern Meadowlark song is a simple, clear, slurred whistled “seeooaaa seeeeadooo” with many variations; higher and clearer than the Western Meadowlark song, with no complex gurgling phrases (Sibley 2000, Dunn and Alderfer 2019).

The calls are a sharp, electric “dziit” or “jerZIK”, and a hard, mechanical rattle “zttttttttttt”(Sibley 2000, Dunn and Alderfer 2019). The flight call is a thin, rising “vink” or “rrink”(Sibley 2000, Dunn and Alderfer 2019).

 

The geographic variation found throughout the populations of Eastern Meadowlark is highly complex. This species is generally paler, with a whiter tail, in the southwestern United States and western Mexico; and darker in the eastern United States and along the Gulf of Mexico (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). In Eastern birds, size decreases and color saturation increase from north to south, but birds are large in the arid regions of the Southwest and western Mexico (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). There is a trend toward a blacker dorsum from north to south along the Gulf Coast (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). In the southern Neotropics, highland birds tend to be larger than lowland birds, yielding a west-to-east decrease in size across northern South America, yet the dominant color along this axis alternates brown-gray-brown-gray (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). Several populations are geographically isolated and could potentially represent separate species (Jaramillo and Burke 1999).

The Eastern Meadowlark is a polytypic and widespread species with 16 recognized subspecies, but it is possible that this species is perhaps “over-split” in the literature (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). By contrast, some subspecies possibly are a good biological species, with most such attention focusing on the subspecies (S. m. lilianae), or Lilian's Meadowlark, of the arid Southwest. As stated in Jaramillo and Burke (1999) If S. m. lilianae is split, “. . . it would need to be determined how many of the current Eastern Meadowlark subspecies would become subspecies of ‘Lilian's Meadowlark'”. These authors noted that “According to J. Barlow . . . the Mexican taxa [sic] auropectoralis is clearly more closely related to ‘Lilian's,' while the very similar appearing hoopesi belong[s] with Eastern Meadowlark. Saunders (1934) also hypothesized that lilianae was most closely related to auropectoralis, and that the more southern alticola also fit in this group” (Jaramillo and Burke 1999:301). Further study on species limits is needed, especially in contact zones of n. Mexico. Populations in the highlands of Middle America need comprehensive, critical examination.

The following subspecies breakdown of the Eastern Meadowlark is taken from Jaster et al. (2020).

1). The Eastern Group:

S. m. magna (Linnaeus, 1758). Includes (Sturnus ludovicianus) (Linnaeus, 1766), (Cacicus alaudarius) (Daudin, 1800), and (Sturnella collaris) (Vieillot, 1823). Breeds from southwestern South Dakota east to central Nova Scotia and south northeastern Colorado (formerly), and central Oklahoma east to central North Carolina; many birds are resident, but northern birds’ winter south to southern Texas, Gulf Coast, and central South Carolina. Note the measurements for the male wing > 115 mm, tail > 75 mm.

S. m. argutula (Bangs, 1899). This subspecies is largely resident from se. Kansas to northeastern and south-central North Carolina, and south from eastern Texas to southern Florida. This subspecies is smaller than the subspecies (S. m. magna) with the male wing measuring ~106–117 mm, tail < 77 mm; somewhat deeper yellow ventrally; darker dorsally; and rectrices are less white. Clinal intergradation with (S. m. magna) to the north and with the subspecies (S. m. hoopesi) to the southwest

S. m. hippocrepis (Wagler, 1832). Is a resident of Cuba, including Isle of Pines. Like subspecies (S. m. argutula), but the males measure smaller in the wing < 107 mm and are more conspicuously streaked below.

2. The Gulf Coast Group: 

S. m. hoopesi (Stone, 1897). This subspecies is resident from southern Texas south to north Coahuila, Nuevo León, and central Tamaulipas. The size is intermediate to (S. m. magna) and (S. m. argutula); grayer and paler dorsally than (S. m. magna), with black bars on remiges and rectrices narrower and less confluent. This subspecies intergrades with (S. m. Mexicana) to the south and with (S. m. lilianae) to the southwest. Contact zones of (S. m. hoopesi) and (S. m. lilianae) are found in semiarid plains of Tlaxcala, Puebla, adjacent areas of Veracruz. The northward regions need critical examination, but specimens of these taxa from Texas are 100% diagnosable (Rohwer 1976). (S. m. hoopesi) is also completely diagnosable from (S. m. magna) (Rohwer 1976).

S. m. mexicana (Sclater, 1861). This subspecies is a resident of the Atlantic coastal lowlands from north-central Veracruz south and east across the north Isthmus of Tehuántepec, Tabasco, north Chiapas, base of Yucatán peninsula, and Petén (Guatemala) to Belize (fide Dickerman and Phillips 1970). This subspecies is smaller than (S. m. hoopesi) and (S. m. alticola) with the male’s wing measuring < 105 mm, with the tarsus long relative to a short wing; the plumage is like that taxon, but darker dorsally (as in S. m. argutula). This subspecies intergrades with (S. m. hoopesi) in northern Veracruz and adjacent Tamaulipas and with paler hoopesi–ilianae complex in Puebla.

S. m. griscomi (Van Tyne and Trautman 1941). This subspecies is a resident of the arid coast of northern Yucatan Peninsula. This subspecies is the size of (S. m. alticola), but larger than (S. m. mexicana); the males wing measures > 103 mm; like (S. m. mexicana), but the crown stripes are blackish with brown edgings that are reduced or absent.

S. m. inexspectata (Ridgway, 1888). This subspecies is resident of the pine savannahs of the Atlantic slope from eastern Honduras south to central Nicaragua. It is the smallest subspecies with the males’ wing measuring wing < 99 mm, tail < 67 mm; crown, interscapular, and rump extensively black; brown areas are richer than on (S. m. mexicana). This subspecies probably intergrades with (S. m. mexicana) in Belize and in Petén.

S. m. subulata (Griscom, 1934). This subspecies is a resident of the Pacific slope of Panama.  Recently it colonized the Caribbean slope (Jaramillo and Burke 1999). Like (S. m. alticola) in color, but the size of (S. m. mexicana) with the male’s wing measuring < 106 mm; (Wetmore et al. 1984).

 

3. Southern-western Group (“Lilian's Meadowlark”):

S. m. lilianae (Oberholser, 1930). This subspecies is largely resident in the desert grassland of northwestern and central Arizona; east to southern New Mexico and western Texas; south at least to northeastern Sonora and northern Chihuahua (Rosenberg et al. 1991, Leukering and Pieplow 2009.). It winters north to central Arizona and has reached lower Colorado River at that season (Rosenberg et al. 1991, Leukering and Pieplow 2009.). Apparently, disjunct from nominate subspecies, possibly by as little as 50 km in southwestern Texas (Jaster et al. 2020). The most distinctive subspecies; size of (S. m. hoopesi) (Pyle 1997b); the plumages are like (S. m. hoopesi), but there is barring on the wings and tail is narrower, paler and grayer dorsally; tail more extensively white than any other subspecies. Separable from the sympatric (S. neglecta) by rectrix 3 which is essentially white, not brown, and pale, not dark, auricular (Zimmer 1984). Contact zone with (S. m. hoopesi) in northeastern Mexico needs further study. Rohwer (1976) suggested that further study might show these taxa to be reproductively isolated, and preliminary data on genetics and primary song may suggest full species status (Jaramillo and Burke 1999, Jaster et al. 2020)

 

S. m. auropectoralis (Saunders, 1934). This subspecies is resident from southern Sinaloa, coastal Nayarit, and southern Durango across Trans-Volcanic Belt east to upper Río Lerma, Edo in México. This subspecies is large (about the size of S. m. hoopesi), but the bill and tail average shorter; in all plumages these birds look is the nominate subspecies (S. m. magna), but breast has a distinct orange wash. This subspecies Intergrades with the hoopesi–lilianae complex in Distrito Federal, and eastwards in Volcanic Belt, and with (S. m. saundersi) in Valley of Oaxaca.

S. m. saundersi (Dickerman and Phillips, 1970). This subspecies is a resident of the Pacific lowlands of southeastern Oaxaca, Mexico. This subspecies is similar in size to (S. m. auropectoralis); like that taxon, but paler, less rufescent dorsally and on the flanks, and paler and less ochraceous on the breast.

S. m. alticola (Nelson, 1900). This subspecies is a presumed resident of the highlands from Chiapas south to Costa Rica; it was collected recently on the Pacific slope of Guatemala (Dickerman 2007), suggesting local movements. The size is moderate with the male’s wing measuring ~107–113 mm). The edges of dorsal feathers are grayish brown; the flanks are grayer; it lacks the color saturation of (S. m. mexicana) or the warmth of brown tones of (S. m. saundersi).

4. South American Group: 

S. m. meridionalis (Sclater, 1861). This subspecies is a resident of the subtropical and temperate zones of the Eastern Andes of Colombia and northwestern Venezuela (fide Hellmayr 1937). This subspecies has the longest wing chord among South American subspecies with the male’s wing measuring > 105 mm, and it averages the longest bill of all subspecies, darker and browner like (S. m. praticola).

S. m. paralios (Bangs, 1901). This subspecies is a resident of the tropical and subtropical zones of Colombia from the Santa Marta Mountains south to the western base of the Eastern Andes and of savannas of north and central Venezuela, except the Andes. Nearly as large as the subspecies (S. m. meridionalis) with the male’s wing measuring > 103 mm, tail > 67 mm, but paler and the tail whiter. It is larger and grayer dorsally than on (S. m. praticola).

S. m. praticola (Chubb, 1921). Includes the subspecies (S. m. monticola) Chubb, 1921 (see Hellmayr 1937, Blake 1968). This subspecies is a resident of llanos of eastern Colombia east to southeastern Venezuela and southwestern Guyana to the highlands of southeastern Bolívar. This subspecies is similar in appearance to (S. m. paralios), but smaller with male’s wing measuring < 106 mm, tail < 69 mm, and is a warmer brown dorsally.

S. m. quinta (Dickerman, 1989). This subspecies is a resident of Suriname and northeastern Brazil (fide Joseph 2001). It is the size of (S. m. praticola); color of (S. m. paralios), but the edges of the secondaries and wing coverts are grayer.

The Eastern Meadowlark was formerly considered conspecific with the Western Meadowlark, but that taxon was treated as a full species by Ridgway (1902) and has been treated as a species by the American Ornithologists' Union since its 14th check-list supplement (A.O.U. 1908).

The Eastern and Western Meadowlarks are sibling species (Lanyon 1966, Lanyon and Omland 1999) in contact across a narrow zone of sympatry in central North America, where behavioral and ecological isolating mechanisms limit mixed pairings. Hybridization is difficult to determine because they share highly similar plumages, but its apparently rare except at range periphery, where it is influenced by low numbers of conspecifics, year-to-year instability of populations, and convergent habitat selection. No case of interbreeding has been discovered in more than 100 pairings in long-established sympatric populations in Wisconsin, but a mixed pair was observed at range periphery in Illinois (Lanyon 1957). Four years of intensive search in area of recent sympatry in Ontario revealed 9 nests of 5 mixed pairs; hybridization said to be “incidental,” with limited breeding success the result of “reduced viability of the F1 hybrids” (Szijj 1963, 1966). A mixed pair and 3 hybrid young have been collected in Oklahoma (Sutton and Dickson 1965). Lanyon (1966) reported 2 mixed pairs at extreme range periphery in Quebec and New York and determined hybrids to be viable and identifiable with certainty only based on determining phenotypic recombination of specific parental characters. Multivariate analysis of morphology implied genetic integrity among sympatric populations in Great Plains (Rohwer 1972a) and Ontario (Szijj 1963), with possibility of only occasional interbreeding. Although Rohwer (1972a) found few phenotypically intermediate specimens, a higher percentage came from Platte River drainage in Nebraska than from river systems farther south. There are reports of “hybrid songs” and individuals singing songs of both forms are not admissible evidence of hybridization. Contrary to Cody (1969), primary song does not converge in regions of sympatry (Lanyon 1957, Rohwer 1972a, Ordal 1976).

A hybrid produced in captivity in 1933 (G. Saunders in litt.) was killed by its parents when 1 day old. In a 12-year captive breeding program (Lanyon 1979), 25 meadowlarks (including both species) produced 44 clutches of 158 eggs. The two species readily hybridized in captivity: mixed mating resulted in eggs with 90% fertility, not significantly different from 87% fertility of eggs from pure mating. Hybrids were viable, but when paired only 10% of eggs were fertile. All eggs from 1 surviving backcross hybrid were infertile. Hybrids in the wild are at a disadvantage and selected against, a conclusion suggested earlier by Szijj's (1966) research in Ontario and Rohwer's (1972a) multivariate analysis of specimens from the central and southern Great Plains.

Within the Icteridae, meadowlarks and their allies form a distinct lineage, with the tropical and south temperate, red-breasted species (also genus Sturnella) sister to the Eastern and Western Meadowlarks (Lanyon and Omland 1999).

Eastern Meadowlarks have 9 functional primaries, 9 secondaries (including 3 tertials), and 12 rectrices. Geographic variation in appearance is slight to moderate (Jaster et al. 2020). The following molt and plumage descriptions pertain to the widespread nominate eastern North American subspecies (S. m. magna). The geographic variation for appearance variation in up to 16 other recognized subspecies in central and western North America, the West Indes, and Mexico through South America is outside the scope of this paper. 

The following molt and plumage terminology is taken from Jaster et al. (2020) and follows Humphrey and Parkes (1959) as modified by Howell et al. (2003, 2004). Eastern Meadowlark exhibits a Complex Basic Strategy (cf. Howell et al. 2003, Howell 2010), including complete prebasic molts and a partial preformative molt, but no prealternate molts (Stone 1896).

Prejuvenile (First Prebasic) Molt is completed, primarily in May-July in North America, in the nest. Feather tracts show developing contour feathers by day 3; feathers emerge from sheaths by day 6. At normal fledging (day 10-12), the body is fully covered by feathers, but flight feathers are still partly sheathed. At day 15-16, flight feathers are still ensheathed basally, but the bird is capable of short flights; and sustained flight by day 21.

 

Preformative Molt or "First Prebasic" or "Prebasic I" Molt according to Humphrey and Parkes (1959) and some later authors; see revision by Howell et al. (2003). This molt is completed primarily from July-November in North America on or near the breeding grounds. This molt may extend later into November in the southwestern United States populations. Other blackbirds can retain underwing greater and/or primary coverts during the preformative molt (Pyle 1997a), and this could occur in meadowlarks; but further study is needed. The replacement sequence of flight feathers is the same as in Definitive Prebasic Molt.

 

Definitive Prebasic Molt is completed primarily from August-October on or near the breeding grounds, although study is needed regarding the relationship between the breeding territories and the molting grounds. Primaries are replaced distally (p1 to p9), secondaries are likely replaced proximally from s1 and distally from the central or innermost tertial (s8 or s9), as typical of passerines, and rectrices are probably replaced proximally (r6 to r1) on each side of the tail (Parkes 1972), with some variation in sequence possible.

The Eastern Meadowlark is a recent addition to the avifauna of British Columbia (Toochin et al. 2018). An adult bird was found by Rick Toochin and Al Russell at the Hope Airport on May 28, 2021 (R. Toochin Pers. Comm.). Video recordings and photographs were captured of the bird both sitting and in flight and sent to experts for confirmation of the identification (R. Toochin Pers. Comm.). Identification focused on the 4-5 pure white outer tail feathers, white malar, and different call notes in captured in videos taken of the bird in flight (Leukering and Pieplow 2009, Jaster et al. 2020). Western Meadowlarks normally show 2 white outer tail feathers (Sibley 2000, Dunn and Alderfer 2017). Be aware that some hybrid birds can show 3 white outer tail feathers in extreme cases (Appleton 2015). It is important to examine potential future Eastern Meadowlarks observations when birds have an extreme number of 4-5 white outer tail feathers (Jaster et al. 2020). That alone is not enough to safely identify potential Eastern Meadowlarks: song and call notes as well as facial patterns together will help establish any claims. There are only a couple of records of the Eastern Meadowlark for the west coast to date, but all involve birds vocalizing.  These birds were found in late May into June. This species is similar enough to the Western Meadowlark to easily go undetected by observers unless careful scrutiny is made of out of place and season Meadowlarks. This species could turn up again in the future anywhere in the province.

We wish to thank Don Cecile for editing the original manuscript. We also want to thank Gavin Beiber and the many experts across North America he consulted for all their help in confirming the identification. All photos are used with permission of the photographers and are fully protected by copyright law. Photographs are not to be reproduced, published, or retransmitted on any website without the authorization of the photographers.

Amos, E. J. R. 1991. A Guide to the Birds of Bermuda. Corncrake, Warwick, Bermuda.

A.O.U. 1908. Fourteenth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds. Auk 25(3): 343-349.

Appleton, D. 2015, December 16. Bird Hybrids: A collaborative project to improve understanding of hybrid birds: Western Meadowlark x Eastern Meadowlark.  [Online resource] Retrieved from https://birdhybrids.blogspot.com/2015/12/western-meadowlark-x-eastern-meadowlark.html [Accessed: June 24, 2021].

Bangs, O. 1899. The Florida meadowlark. Proc. New England Zool. Club 1: 19-21.

Bangs, O. 1901. A new meadowlark from South America. Proc. New England Zool. Club 2: 55-56.

Chubb, C. 1921. On new forms of South American birds. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 9 8: 444-447.

Cody, M. L. 1969. Convergent characteristics in sympatric species: a possible relation to interspecific  competition and aggression. Condor 71: 222-239.

Corman, T. E., and C. Wise-Gervais. 2005. Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, USA.

Dickerman, R.W. and Phillips, A.R. 1970. Taxonomy of the Common Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) in  central and southern Mexico and Caribbean Central America. Condor. 72: 305-309.

Dickerman, R.W. 1989. Notes on Sturnella magna in South America with a description of a new subspecies. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 109: 160-162.

Dickerman, R. W. 2007. Birds of the southern Pacific lowlands of Guatemala with a review of Icterus gularis. Special Publication the Museum of Southwestern Biology 7:1-46.

Dunn, J. L., and Alderfer, J. 2017. National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America: 7th edition. National Geographic Society, Washington D.C. 591pp.

Griscom, L. 1934. The ornithology of Guerrero, Mexico. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 75: 367-422.

Hellmayr, C. E. 1937. Catalogue of birds of the Americas, Part X. Icteridae. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser., Vol. 13, Publ. 381.

Howell, S. N. G. 2010. Peterson Reference Guide to Molt in North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company, Boston, MA, USA.

Howell, S. N. G., C. Corben, P. Pyle, and D. I. Rogers. 2003. The first basic problem: a review of molt and plumage homologies. Condor 105: 635–653.

Howell, S. N. G., C. Corben, P. Pyle, and D. I. Rogers. 2004. The first basic problem revisited: Reply to commentaries on Howell et al. (2003). Condor 106: 206–210.

Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 2010. A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA.

Humphrey, P. S., and K. C. Parkes. 1959. An approach to the study of molts and plumages. Auk 76: 1–31.

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

Jaster, L. A., W. E. Jensen, and W. E. Lanyon. 2020. Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.easmea.01 [Accessed: June 1, 2021].

Joseph, L. 2001. The type-locality of Sturnella magna quinta Dickerman, 1989: A correction to the original publication. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 121 (1): 69-71.

Lanyon, W. E. 1956a. Ecological aspects of the sympatric distribution of meadowlarks in the north-central states. Ecology 37: 98-108.

Lanyon, W. E. 1957. The comparative biology of the meadowlarks (Sturnella) in Wisconsin. Cambridge, MA: Publ. Nuttall Ornithol. Club, no. 1.

Lanyon, W. E. 1962. Species limits and distribution of meadowlarks of the desert grassland. Auk

Lanyon, W.E. 1966. Hybridization in meadowlarks. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 134: 5-26.

Lanyon, S. M., and K. E. Omland. 1999. A molecular phylogeny of the blackbirds (Icteridae): Five lineages revealed by cytochrome-b sequence data. Auk 116: 629-639.

Leukering, T. and N. Pieplow. 2009. Lilian’s Meadowlark: A Cryptic Species (?) and a Rare Colorado Breeder. Colorado Birds Vol. 43(3): 222-228.

McGowan, K. J. 2001, November 2. Differences between Eastern Meadowlark, Sturnella magna, and Western Meadowlark, S. neglecta. Online resource Retrieved from  https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/mlarkdiff.htm [Accessed: June 23, 2021].

Mlodinow, S. L. and M. Bartels. 2016. TENTH REPORT OF THE WASHINGTON BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE (2010–2013). Western Birds 47(2): 86-119.

Monroe, B. L., Jr. 1968. A distributional survey of the birds of Honduras. Ornithological Monographs 7. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC, USA.

Nelson, E. W. 1900. Descriptions of thirty new North American birds, in the Biological Survey collection. Auk 17: 253-270. 

Oberholser, H. C. 1930. Notes on a collection of birds from Arizona and New Mexico. Sci. Publ. Cleveland Mus. 1: 83-124.

Ordal, J. M. 1976. Effect of sympatry on meadowlark vocalizations. Condor 78: 100-101.

Parkes, K. C. 1972. Tail molt in the family Icteridae. Paper read at Proceedings of the XVth International Ornithological Congress. The Hague, the Netherlands, Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 1970, at Leiden, the Netherlands.

Phillips, A. R., J. T. Marshall Jr., and G. B. Monson. 1964.. The Birds of Arizona. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ, USA.

Pyle, P. 1997a. Molt limits in North American passerines. North American Bird Bander 22: 49–89.

Pyle, P. 1997b. Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part I: Columbidae to Ploceidae. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, CA, USA.

Reinking, D. L. 2004. Oklahoma Breeding Bird Atlas. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, USA.

Ridgway, R. 1888. Catalogue of a collection of birds made by Chas. H. Townsend, on islands in the Caribbean Sea and in Honduras. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 10.

Ridgway, R. 1902. The birds of North and Middle America. Part II. United States National Museum Bulletin 50, part 2. 

Rohwer, S. A. 1972a. A multivariate assessment of interbreeding between the meadowlarks, Sturnella. Systematic Zoology 21: 313-338.

Rohwer, S. A. 1976. Specific distinctness and adaptive differences in southwestern meadowlarks. Univ. Kans. Occ. Paps. Mus. Nat. Hist. 44:1-14.

Root, T. 1988. Atlas of Wintering North American Birds: An Analysis of Christmas Bird Count Data. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, USA.

Rosenberg, K. V., R. D. Ohmart, W. C. Hunter, and B. W. Anderson. 1991. Birds of the Lower Colorado River Valley. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ, USA.

Saunders, G. B. 1934. Description of a new meadowlark from southwestern Mexico. Auk 51:42-45.

Sclater, P. L. 1861. Notice of the occurrence of the American Meadow-starling (Sturnella ludoviciana) in England. Ibis 3:176-180.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA.

Stiles, F. G., and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.

Stone, W. 1896. The molting of birds with special reference to the plumages of smaller land birds of eastern North America. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 43: 108–164.

Stone, W. 1897. The genus Sturnella. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia: 146-152.

Sutton, G. M. and G. W. Dickson. 1965. Interbreeding of the Eastern and Western Meadowlarks in central Oklahoma. Southwestern Naturalist 10: 307-310.

Szijj, J. J. 1963. Morphological analysis of the sympatric populations of meadowlarks in Ontario. Proc. XIII Internatl. Ornithol. Congr: 176-188.

Szijj, J. J. 1966. Hybridization and the nature of the isolating mechanism in sympatric populations of meadowlarks (Sturnella) in Ontario. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 6: 677-690.

Tietz, J. and G. McCaskie. 2020. Update to Rare Birds of California: 1 January 2004 – 16 April 2020. [Online Resource] Retrieved from http://www.californiabirds.org/cbrc_book/update.pdf [Accessed: June 19, 2021].

Toochin, R., J. Fenneman, P. Levesque and D. Cecile. 2018. British Columbia Rare Bird List: Casual and Accidental Records: July 15, 2018: 5th Edition [Online Resource] Retrieved from http://ibis.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/efauna/documents/BC%20Rare%20Bird%20ListVersion-July-15-2018.pdf [Accessed: June 19, 2021].

Van Tyne, J., and M. B. Trautman. 1941. New birds from Yucatán. Occasional papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 439. Retrieved from https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/56878/OP439.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y [Accessed: June 21, 2021].

Wagler, J. 1832. Mittheilungen über einige merkwüdige Thiere. II Vögel. Isis von Oken, col. 281.

Wetmore, A., R. F. Pasquier, and S. L. Olson. 1984. The Birds of the Republic of Panama, Part 4-Passeriformes: Hirundinidae (Swallows) to Fringillidae (Finches). Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA.

Wiens, J. A. and J. T. Rotenberry. 1981b. Habitat associations and community structure of birds in shrubsteppe environments. Ecological Monographs 5: 21-41.

Zimmer, K. J. 1984. ID point: Eastern vs. Western Meadowlarks. Birding 16: 155-156.