ML620857937

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Confusing and perplexing observation! Immediately upon arriving at the spot where Grant recorded a potential Eastern/Chihuahuan Meadowlark singing several days before while conducting a BBS, we heard the same song coming from the wet meadow to the north of the public road. This bird was singing regularly and repeatedly. As soon as we got out of the car, we heard what is purported to be the diagnostic call for a Chihuahuan Meadowlark - a hard 'dzitt', very different than the rich 'chup' call of a Western Meadowlark. Recordings of both the song and call are attached here. The bird that was making these vocalizations was flying back and forth between several perches including a dead branch at the top of a willow, a powerline, and a section of fence in the middle of the wet meadow. These perches varied between roughly 50 to 100 yards from the road, and were to our northeast, so views were fair but the lighting was not great, especially after the sun topped the horizon. All three of us had extended looks at this bird through binoculars and spotting scope, and there was no doubt that it was the bird which was singing and calling. Over the course of 45 minutes or so of observation, it was consistently singing the same song and making the same call; we never heard it emit any vocalizations that didn't sound like a Chihuahuan Meadowlark. However, plumage-wise, it looked more like a Western. The malar appeared mostly or entirely yellow, and the auriculars were fairly dark, so the dark eye-line did not contrast strongly with the rest of the face. I took several digiscoped photos in various poses that show these features fairly clearly (ML620857937 - 939). During this time, there was a second meadowlark that was associating loosely with the vocalizing bird. Often, when the vocalizing bird would stop singing and fly to a different perch it was followed by this second individual, and several times they landed close to each other in the grass and foraged within a few feet of each other. The second bird seemed less conspicuous, and we never got a clear look at both of them together. I assumed that they were a mated pair, the singing individual was the male, and the second bird was the female. After about 45 minutes, Grant noticed a vehicle moving down the road at the Old Elk Ranch, so he drove down to ask permission for us to walk out into the field (which is private property) to try and get a closer view not looking into the sun. The landowner (or maybe ranch manager) said yes, so we walked over to the general vicinity where the target meadowlark had been singing and got to a position where we would have a good view with the sun at our backs. Shortly thereafter, two meadowlarks came flying in together, one carrying food, and landed in the grass. The individual carrying food, which I presumed to be the female, was again less conspicuous and quickly disappeared from view, although I did manage to get a couple of quick photos. The other individual, which I presumed to be the male, again perched up conspicuously, singing and calling repeatedly. With a much closer view and better lighting, we were able to confirm that it clearly had a yellow malar and extensive dark streaking on the auriculars. Again, it was giving a perfect (to our ears, at least) Chihuahan Meadowlark song and calls. I took some more photos of this bird perched, singing and calling. When it flew, I was finally able to get some decent shots of the tail, which clearly matched the pattern of a Western Meadowlark, with only the outermost 2 1/2 rectrices being white (ML620857935). At this point, we felt that we had gotten as good of a view as possible and that this bird sounded like a Chihuahuan Meadowlark but looked like a Western Meadowlark, so we called it a morning and walked back to the car. We were perplexed by this apparent contradiction between plumage and vocalizations, especially the calls, which I have ready are innate and therefore more reliable than the song, which is learned. Upon getting home and downloading photos from my camera and phone, it was clear that the plumage of the singing and calling bird did indeed fit Western Meadowlark much better. However, the two photos I managed to get of the second individual, the bird carrying food which quickly disappeared into the grass, are intriguing (ML620857941 & 942). They appear to show a much paler cheek and more strongly contrasting eye-line, along with a white malar! Unfortunately, these are the only two images I recorded that I know were of this bird. Interestingly, one of the photos I took of a meadowlark in flight while we were still observing from the public road appear to show an individual with more extensive white in the tail (ML620857943). However, the quality of this photo is very poor. In summary, I remain perplexed by this observation. I am confident that the bird which was giving calls and songs consistent with a Chihuahan Meadowlark had plumage consistent with a Western Meadowlark. I believe that it was a male, paired with a female who, as far as we could tell, was not vocalizing. This second individual, presumably a female, appears to have plumage consistent with a Chihuahan Meadowlark, but this was noted only from photos once I got home, not in the field. Complicating matters, there were also several Western Meadowlarks calling and singing in the same general vicinity, and at least one recently-fledged juvenile of an unknown species.

Technical information

Model

iPhone 12

Lens

iPhone 12 back dual wide camera 4.2mm f/1.6

ISO

40

Focal length

4.2 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/1.6

Shutter speed

1/121 sec

Dimensions

3024 pixels x 2160 pixels

Original file size

618.58 KB