Announcing the Great Plains’ Bird of the Year: the Western Meadowlark

This yr, we launched the Audubon Nice Plains’ Fowl of the 12 months contest to have fun the numerous wonderful chook species present in our area. We narrowed down to 10 species nominees and shared them on social media to construct engagement and have our followers vote on the winner.

From grassland species to yard birds, listed below are the nominees: the Western Meadowlark, Bobolink, Grasshopper Sparrow, Upland Sandpiper, Burrowing Owl, Northern Harrier, Horned Lark, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, and the Pink-winged Blackbird. With 115 votes solid, our area has spoken, and with a good race, the winner is the Western Meadowlark with 27 votes, and the Bobolink got here in a detailed second with 24 votes.

It got here as no shock to our workforce that the Western Meadowlark was chosen because the winner for 2026. It’s the state chook for North Dakota and Nebraska and serves as a strong image of the Nice Plains. The tune of the Western Meadowlark represents the arrival of spring, pleasure, and an open prairie panorama. The Western Meadowlark breeds largely in pure grasslands, deserted weedy fields, and rangeland.

Migration

In early spring, usually March by way of April, Western Meadowlarks return to their nesting grounds within the Nice Plains to breed once more, filling prairies with their distinctive flute-like tune and marking the seasonal renewal of grassland ecosystems.

Throughout spring and summer season, these birds nest in native prairies, hayfields, and grazed grasslands, the place males can usually be discovered singing from a fence publish to defend their territory and appeal to a possible mate.

Western Meadowlarks are short-distance migrants and start to go south in mid-October by way of November. Western Meadowlarks from the Nice Plains (North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska) head to states reminiscent of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and components of the Mississippi Valley. Audubon’s Fowl Migration Explorer presents a visible illustration of migration patterns for over 450 species, together with the Western Meadowlark.

Conservation Challenges:

In North America, grassland species are experiencing the quickest decline of any chook group. Grassland species have skilled greater than a 40% decline since 1970. Like many declining species, the Western Meadowlark faces a wide range of conservation challenges, together with residential and business improvement limiting inexperienced areas and pure vegetation, and agricultural practices, to call just a few. Generations of farmers have been good stewards of land and wildlife whereas additionally offering meals for folks and livestock. Nonetheless, some agricultural practices, like overuse of pesticides, can cut back the provision of meals, clear water, and protected locations for birds to feed, relaxation, and breed. And, the conversion of pure vegetation, reminiscent of native prairies, to agriculture has decreased the areas as soon as utilized by birds. Our working lands workforce works with landowners and producers to enroll in packages offering cost-share help, such because the Prairie Management Toolbox and the North Dakota Conservation Forage Program. Our Vary Ecologists present technical help and habitat administration plans to maintain the land and assist wildlife.   

Moreover, our workforce works with ranchers by way of packages reminiscent of Audubon’s Conservation Ranching, and we can assist be sure that livestock administration is a conservation answer for birds.

Via our new Audubon Nice Plains’ Fowl of the 12 months program, we hope to construct consciousness and encourage motion. As we have fun the Western Meadowlark all year long, everybody can play an element. At residence, you may plant native species in your yard or backyard and supply habitat for birds utilizing our native plant database. You possibly can discover MOTUS knowledge on varied species and assist unfold the phrase! The Motus Wildlife Monitoring System is a world, collaborative community that makes use of automated radio telemetry to trace the actions of small animals—primarily birds, bats, and bugs—on a hemispheric scale. And lastly, you may spend time outdoor and develop your reference to birds and the locations they name residence.