Western Meadowlark

Open encyclopedia reference

The western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is a medium-sized icterid bird, about 20 cm (7.9 in) in length. It is found across western and central North America and is a partial migrant, breeding in western Canada and western United States west of the Great Lakes, and in northern Mexico. In the northern half of the breeding range, the birds migrate south for the winter, while further south they are resident all year. The winter range also extends south and southeast of the breeding range, as far as central Mexico, and east to western Florida. The western meadowlark nests on the ground in open grasslands and shrublands. It feeds on bugs and seeds. The western meadowlark has distinctive calls described as watery or flute-like, which distinguish it from the closely related eastern meadowlark. The western meadowlark is the state bird of six states; in Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming.

Wikipedia contributors, Western meadowlark; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:15:56.421351+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Sturnella neglecta Audubon, 1844

Name authority

Audubon, 1844

Common name

Western Meadowlark

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Icteridae

Genus

Sturnella

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familyIcteridae
11. genusSturnella Vieillot, 1816
12. speciesSturnella neglecta Audubon, 1844

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Sturnella. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 72 records assigned to Icteridae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. Audubon, & John James. (1844). Missouri Meadow-Lark, Sturnella neglecta. The Birds of America from Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories, Vol. 7. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:537YZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.