Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Passeriformes > Icteridae > Sturnella > Sturnella neglecta

Sturnella neglecta (Western Meadowlark)

Synonyms: Sturnella neglecta confluenta; Sturnella neglecta neglecta
Language: French; Spanish

Wikipedia Abstract

The western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is a medium-sized icterid bird, about 8.5 in (22 cm) in length. It nests on the ground in open grasslands across western and central North America. It feeds mostly on insects, but will also feed on seeds and berries. The western meadowlark has distinctive calls described as watery or flute-like, which distinguish it from the closely-related eastern meadowlark.
View Wikipedia Record: Sturnella neglecta

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
2
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
16
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 4.91611
EDGE Score: 1.77768

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  97 grams
Birth Weight [3]  7 grams
Female Weight [5]  89 grams
Male Weight [5]  112 grams
Weight Dimorphism [5]  25.8 %
Breeding Habitat [2]  Temperate grasslands, Agricultural
Wintering Geography [2]  Chihuahuan Grasslands
Wintering Habitat [2]  Chihuahuan grasslands, Temperate grasslands, Agricultural
Diet [4]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Granivore
Diet - Invertibrates [4]  50 %
Diet - Seeds [4]  50 %
Forages - Ground [4]  100 %
Clutch Size [6]  4
Clutches / Year [3]  2
Fledging [1]  11 days
Global Population (2017 est.) [2]  98,000,000
Incubation [3]  14 days
Mating System [7]  Monogamy (mostly)
Maximum Longevity [3]  10 years
Female Maturity [3]  1 year
Male Maturity [3]  1 year

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

+ Click for partial list (100)Full list (174)

Ecosystems

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
California Floristic Province Mexico, United States No
Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands Mexico, United States No
Mesoamerica Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama No

Emblem of

Prey / Diet

Rhigopsis effracta[8]
Zea mays (corn)[8]

Predators

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Callipepla californica (Californian Quail)[8]
Quadriplotriaena hypsokysta <Unverified Name>[10]

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Audio

Play / PauseVolume
Provided by eNature via Myxer Author: Lang Elliot

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
2Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2017. Accessed on January 2018.
3de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
4Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
5Wiens, JA, and JT Rotenberry. 1980. Patterns of morphology and ecology in grassland and shrubsteppe bird populations. Ecol. Monogr. 50:287-308
6Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
7Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
8Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
9Prairie falcon prey in the Mojave Desert, California, DA Boyce, Raptor Research 19 (4):128-134 (1985)
10Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Audio software provided by SoundManager 2
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0