This grassland bird is known for a black V on its yellow breast and a flutelike song. It searches the ground for seeds and insects.
Its breast is bright yellow with a black V in the center. The brown back is finely streaked.
Western Meadowlarks breed in North Dakota grasslands managed with combinations of fire and grazing. From 2022 to 2024, researchers banded 50 adult males; 46 established breeding territories. Across the three years, they mapped 70 territories at twelve pastures managed under three grazing treatments.
About six in ten territorial males returned the following year, and 33% of males banded in 2022 returned in both later years. Mean territory size fell from 7.8 hectares in 2022 to 5.5 hectares in 2024. Growing-season rainfall was much higher in 2024 than in 2022, and the authors proposed that changing food resources may help explain the smaller territories.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In twelve North Dakota pastures, annual return rates for territorial males were 61% in 2023 and 60% in 2024; 33% of males banded in 2022 returned in both later years. The authors proposed that vegetation patterns maintained by fire and grazing could help sustain site use, while noting that the drivers of return remain uncertain.