Bird
Western Meadowlark
Sturnella neglecta
A winter visitor to Arkansas, found in all 75 counties and 6 habitats.
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 75 counties
- Habitats
- 6

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 75 counties
- Habitats
- 6
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Arkansas 6
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.
Other habitats in its models (29)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Arkansas. Those recorded in Arkansas first, the rest by region.
In Arkansas 1
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Winter.
Elsewhere in the South (6)
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- South Texas Lomas Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter.
- Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Winter, beside its main habitat.
Midwest (3)
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Winter.
- Central Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
- North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
Land cover and other classes (19)
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Winter.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Winter.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Winter.
- Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Winter.
- Recently Burned Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Recently Burned Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Recently Burned Grassland Winter.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Recently Logged Areas Winter, beside its main habitat.
- South Texas Sand Sheet Grassland Winter.
Seasons in Arkansas
- Winter: does not nest here, in all 75 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
No native plants of these genera are recorded in Arkansas.
Plant genera in its diet records (2)
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Arkansas, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 85
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Greater RoadrunnerGeococcyx californianus
- Interior Least TernSternula antillarum athalassos
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
- Least TernSternula antillarum
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Scissor-tailed FlycatcherTyrannus forficatus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
Plants 888
- Maximilian SunflowerHelianthus maximiliani
- Muck SunflowerHelianthus simulans
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Threadleaf SundropsOenothera linifolia
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Bushy KnotweedPolygonum ramosissimum subsp. prolificum
- Blackeyed SusanRudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
- Prostrate KnotweedPolygonum aviculare
Prairies and grasslands
Birds 40
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
- Scissor-tailed FlycatcherTyrannus forficatus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
- Sprague's PipitAnthus spragueii
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Le Conte's SparrowAmmodramus leconteii
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Painted BuntingPasserina ciris
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
Plants 187
- Susquehanna CherryPrunus pumila var. susquehanae
- Twistleaf GoldenrodSolidago tortifolia
- Missouri IronweedVernonia missurica
- Rydbergs Blazing StarLiatris hirsuta
- Rough Blazing-starLiatris aspera
- Manyflower Marsh-pennywortHydrocotyle umbellata
- Oklahoma Grass PinkCalopogon oklahomensis
- Purple SandgrassTriplasis purpurea
- Bushy GoldentopEuthamia leptocephala
- Sawtooth SunflowerHelianthus grosseserratus
- Barrens Silky AsterSymphyotrichum pratense
- New England AsterSymphyotrichum novae-angliae
Forest edges and thickets
Birds 45
- Spotted TowheePipilo maculatus
- Rufous-crowned SparrowAimophila ruficeps
- Painted BuntingPasserina ciris
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- Barn SwallowHirundo rustica
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Blue-winged WarblerVermivora pinus
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
- Henslow's SparrowAmmodramus henslowii
- Palm WarblerDendroica palmarum
- Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
Plants 142
- Earleaf GreenbrierSmilax auriculata
- Fringed NutrushScleria ciliata
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Buffalo CloverTrifolium reflexum
- Gray DogwoodCornus racemosa
- Cutleaf GoldenrodSolidago arguta
- Hairy LettuceLactuca hirsuta
- Upland BonesetEupatorium sessilifolium
- Eustis Lake BeardtonguePenstemon australis
- Slender LespedezaLespedeza virginica
- Trailing LespedezaLespedeza procumbens
- Creeping LespedezaLespedeza repens
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Western Meadowlark Elevation sea level to 3,700 m
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus





























































