I was asked to examine the recordings and photos of the meadowlark at Bud Mielke Reservoir in May 2020. The call notes definitively rule out Western Meadowlark, and the songs and (poor) photos are consistent with Chihuahuan, so in my opinion that bird can safely be called a Chihuahuan Meadowlark.
By contrast, the meadowlark at Heil Valley Ranch in Boulder earlier this summer had 100% Western Meadowlark plumage, even though it sang only Chihuahuan Meadowlark songs. It's not uncommon for the three meadowlark species to learn each other's songs, so song alone is not sufficient to identify them. If you are hearing a bird that sounds like a Chihuahuan Meadowlark, you'll need recordings of the "dzert" call and/or good photos of the bird (the face and, especially, the spread tail) in order to rule out the other two species. Nathan Pieplow Boulder On Wed, Aug 3, 2022 at 10:57 PM Tyler Wilson <[email protected]> wrote: > What ended up being the consensus on the bird at Bud Mielke Res a couple > of years ago (May 2020 i think)? > > Tyler Wilson > Adams County > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Aug 3, 2022, at 9:29 PM, Peter Gent <[email protected]> wrote: > > > All, > > The 63rd Supplement to the Check-list of North American birds from the > American Ornithological Society was published today in the journal > Ornithology. As Brandon already notified everyone, included in the changes > was the split of Eastern Meadowlark into Eastern and Chihuahuan > Meadowlarks. Chihuahuan Meadowlark includes the Lilian's race from Arizona > and New Mexico and another race from northern Mexico. The proposal for this > split was written by Johanna Beam, and is based mainly on a paper published > last year in Ornithology which has Johanna as the lead author. The research > for this paper was done when Johanna was an undergraduate student in > Biology at CU in Boulder, and she is now a PhD student in Biology at Penn > State University. I believe her interest in this subject started in 2015 > when she found some Lilian's race Eastern Meadowlarks on the north side of > McIntosh Lake in northwest Longmont, and submitted record 2015-089 to the > CBRC. Johanna is a Colorado young woman that all Colorado birders should > congratulate and take pride in. > > CBRC records for Eastern Meadowlarks are at: > https://cobrc.org/Reports/SpeciesDetail.aspx?id=463 There are 26 of them > going back nearly 50 years, and at least 3 refer explicitly to the Lilian's > race, which are 2005-22 from near the old Campo lek in Baca County, > 2006-103 from the Colorado City cemetery and 2015-089 from McIntosh Lake in > Longmont by Johanna Beam. Other records, especially 2003-33 and 2012-47 > from south Baca County, may well also refer to the Lilian's race. This will > be determined in the near future, so that the new Chihuahuan Meadowlark > will be well documented to have occurred in Colorado. This highlights the > importance of maintaining and expanding the CBRC database of rare birds in > Colorado. > > Peter Gent, Boulder. > CBRC Chairman. > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en > * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include > bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate > * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADEFvCe9D1t7s6BXH9bLgBtmACscyu2rwLu%3DedoXzDVeNkFo9g%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADEFvCe9D1t7s6BXH9bLgBtmACscyu2rwLu%3DedoXzDVeNkFo9g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en > * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include > bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate > * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/SJ0PR06MB7359A766A21EA5A4D7E25AF7CF9F9%40SJ0PR06MB7359.namprd06.prod.outlook.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/SJ0PR06MB7359A766A21EA5A4D7E25AF7CF9F9%40SJ0PR06MB7359.namprd06.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. 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