Good morning,
A few hours ago, I found a territorial EASTERN MEADOWLARK on the Beech Open
Space, east of Highway 36 and south of Neva Road. This is just west of Lefthand
Reservoir. The McGuckin's warehouse is across the highway to the west. Although
there is an open gate to the track that goes down to the picnic area off Neva,
I do believe it should be locked. The picnic shelter is rented out via Boulder
COUNTY Parks and Open Space (not CITY of Boulder, employer of yours truly and
manager of the land itself). Maybe there will be an event there soon, or
someone forgot to lock the gate after they used it this past weekend. Either
way, DO NOT DRIVE IN. Park on Neva and walk. Here is a map:
http://tinyurl.com/nawhpc9
So here's the thing. When I first found the bird, it was singing a beautiful
Eastern song. I was in the middle of a survey, and when I finished that, I went
back to find the bird again. When I got to it, it was singing a Western song.
Three options came to mind. 1) I mis-heard and mis-IDed a WEME; 2) A WEME was
singing from the same patch of yuccas that only minutes before an EAME had
been; 3) Same bird singing two songs.
I finished my morning round of transects and went back to the bird. I got good
video recordings of the calls (clearly EAME), and its two song types, a typical
EAME and a typical WEME. No doubt about it singing both versions. Luckily, it's
a known phenomenon that Meadowlarks to learn their song, so are thus perfectly
capable of singing whichever they like. Calls are hardwired in, so since the
bird utters an Eastern call, I'm good with that.
Visually, the bird is spot-on for an EAME. No sign of yellow on the
sub-moustacial, very dark head markings, dark brown overall, and three white
tail feathers (which doesn't actually mean much to me, I count three on WEMEs
all the time).
Video of the bird calling (diagnostic for EAME):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/9008690162/in/photostream/Video of
the bird singing EAME song:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/9008744436/Video of the bird
singing a WEME song:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/9008714688/in/photostream/
Record photographs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/9008671988/http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/9008672032/http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/9008672118/
Christian NunesBoulder, CO
[email protected]
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