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Western Meadowlark, sturnella-neglecta ,5 x 5 Framed Fine Art Photograph

Western Meadowlark, sturnella-neglecta ,5 x 5 Framed Fine Art Photograph

Description

The Western Meadowlark ,sturnella-neglecta (Audubon), was chosen as the State bird of Montana in 1930 by a vote of the school children of the state. By an act of the Montana Legislature, the western meadow lark was adopted as the official state bird on March 14, 1931. It is also the state bird in the western states of Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming.

The meadowlark was first noted by Lewis and Clark in 1805 near Great Falls, Montana. The neglecta part of the formal name occurred in 1844 when Audubon noticed there was a difference in the wetter climate (eastern) and the drier climate (western) meadowlarks and named the western meadowlark, neglecta as it had been overlooked for so long.

Its bright colors, fearless behavior, abundance, and above all its loud, cheerful song make the Western Meadowlark one of the best known of western birds. The song is often heard on movie sound tracks even when the setting is far from the bird's range.

An abundant and familiar bird of open country across the western two-thirds of the continent, the Western Meadowlark is beloved for its melodic song. It is frequently seen singing atop fenceposts along roadsides in native grassland and agricultural areas. A male Western Meadowlark usually has two mates at the same time. The females do all the incubation and brooding, and most of the feeding of the young.

Added on Nov 06, 2009