White-browed meadowlark facts for kids
Quick facts for kids White-browed meadowlark |
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Sturnella superciliaris |
The white-browed meadowlark (Leistes superciliaris) is a small bird found in the New World. It belongs to a bird family called Icteridae, which includes other birds like orioles and blackbirds. This bird was once called the white-browed blackbird. However, it is not closely related to the red-winged blackbird group.
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Where White-Browed Meadowlarks Live
This bird lives and raises its young in parts of South America. You can find them in northeastern Brazil. They also live in southern South America, including Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. Some of these birds, especially those in the south, are migratory. This means they fly to different places during certain times of the year.
Preferred Homes of the Meadowlark
White-browed meadowlarks love open spaces. They live in moist grasslands, pastures, and even farms. They like areas with a few bushes or fence posts. Males use these spots to sing their songs.
What White-Browed Meadowlarks Look Like
The white-browed meadowlark is a small bird. The male and female birds look quite different.
Male Meadowlark Appearance
Male meadowlarks are mostly black. They have bright red feathers on their throat and belly. They also have red patches on their wings, called "epaulets." A special white stripe above their eye, called a supercilium, helps tell them apart.
Female and Young Meadowlark Appearance
Female meadowlarks have dark brown feathers on their upper body. These feathers have buff (light brownish-yellow) edges. Their underparts are buff colored. They also have pale stripes on their head and around their eyes. Young meadowlarks look like the females but are even paler.
How White-Browed Meadowlarks Behave
These birds are often found in groups. They mostly eat insects. They also eat some seeds, including rice. They look for food on the ground, much like a bobolink bird does.
Singing and Flying Displays
Male white-browed meadowlarks have a special way to show off. They fly up to 10 meters (about 33 feet) into the air. Then, they parachute down with their wings folded. While doing this, they sing a buzzing song. It sounds like "TZZZZZZ-teee-chu-chu-chak-chak." Their regular call is a short "chuck."
Reproduction and Nesting
White-browed meadowlarks build their nests on the ground. They make a deep, open cup-shaped nest from grass. They usually hide their nests among tall grasses. Often, several nests are built close to each other.
Eggs and Chicks
A female meadowlark usually lays three to five eggs. These eggs are greenish with reddish-brown spots.
Brood Parasites
Sometimes, another bird called the shiny cowbird lays its eggs in the meadowlark's nest. This is called brood parasitism. The cowbird lets the meadowlark raise its young. In one nest, people found 19 cowbird eggs with only one meadowlark egg!
Related Birds
The white-browed meadowlark is very similar to the red-breasted meadowlark. The red-breasted meadowlark lives further north. These two birds were once thought to be the same species.
Telling Them Apart
It's easy to tell the male white-browed meadowlark apart because of its bright white stripe above its eye. However, the females of both species look almost the same. The female red-breasted meadowlark has a longer beak. It is also smaller and has shorter wings. It has more red and fewer streaks on its underparts than the white-browed female.
Meadowlark's Changing Home
White-browed meadowlarks have actually benefited from human activities. When forests are cleared for farms or ranches, it creates more open land. This new open habitat is perfect for them. Because of this, their living area is actually growing!
