[texbirds] Re: Meadowlark ID in the RGV
- From: Jim Sinclair <jim.sinclair@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Brush Freeman <brushfreeman@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 12:00:05 -0600
There is another issue, as well. Perhaps Glenn Perrigo will chime in, but
a few years back he watched a bird singing a perfect Eastern song, then
switching to a perfect Western song (or vice versa?).
I (and others) have long suspected that there is probably a lot more
hybridization going on that has not yet been documented. As most here
know, the morphological characteristics are almost infinitely variable
across the population.
Those questions about differences regularly come up during guided tours.
While there are some individuals that I am comfortable calling one way or
the other based exclusively on morphological characteristics, there are
others where I describe those characteristics as I see them, then tell the
person, "It's your list.".
On Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 11:47 AM, Brush Freeman <brushfreeman@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> along with some habitat preferences. Flock size seems to be an indicator
> to me...The larger, in anticipated habitat, the more likely they are
> Westerns. I am talking the coastal plain solely here, the two species seem
> almost equally common at very near, to right on the coast and even on
> Matagorda Is., in Calhoun, Refugio Co.s in winter. I recall confusing
> western types, perhaps the "Lillian's well in Kenedy Co. WEMEs almost
> always appear grayer in flight, at least to me, but I dread calling any
> meadowlark without hearing it tho.....But there is a really big caveat
> here....We have the Lilian's subspecies to contend with in Texas. I
> believe John Arvin spent a good bit of time on meadowlarks and also
> sometime around 1996-97 there was an very good article in North American
> Birds primarily directed towards "Lillian's" but involving the EAMEs and
> WEMEs...It may be archived in SORA. I would imagine you guys down there
> could easily have "Lillian's" in winter as well as the nominates...But I
> really don't know....My ears work better than my eyes with these
> confounding animals.
> **********************************************************************
> Brush Freeman
> 503-551-5150 Cell
> http://texasnaturenotes.blogspot.com/
> Finca Alacranes., Utley,Texas
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 11:20 AM, <antshrike1@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Here in the Rio Grande Valley it is commonly thought that meadowlarks
> > occurring in pairs in coastal grasslands are all Eastern while flocks
> > (sometimes large) occurring in barren fields are all Western. I've heard
> > this theory espoused by some fairly big-brained birders. While I find
> the
> > former supposition to be mostly true, I think the latter is a lot more
> > complicated. I seem to hear Eastern Meadowlarks singing everywhere and
> > rarely hear a Western in song. I guess I need to learn the call notes.
> > Here's a meadowlark from a flock of about 25 in a barren area south of
> > Mission. I took the photo figuring I had my Hidalgo County Western
> > Meadowlark for the year. But looking at the field guides, it seems to be
> > an Eastern Do you agree?
> >
> >
> >
> http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n610/antshrike/rMealowlarkMissionBikePark1-23-14IMG_7331_zps8c5e0d05.jpg
> >
> >
> > So I guess my point is we (or at least "I") need to to be more careful
> > about our meadowlark identification.
> >
> >
> > Dan Jones, Weslaco
> >
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--
Jim Sinclair (TX-ESA)
TOS Life Member
Kingsville, TX
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of
thinking we were at when we created them." - Albert Einstein
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