Bird
Western Meadowlark
Sturnella neglecta
A winter visitor to Mississippi, found in 35 of 82 counties and 4 habitats.
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- 35 of 82 counties
- Habitats
- 4

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- 35 of 82 counties
- Habitats
- 4
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Mississippi 4
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.
Other habitats in its models (32)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Mississippi. Those recorded in Mississippi first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (10)
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- South Texas Lomas Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous 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)
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Winter.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Winter, beside its main habitat.
- 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 Mississippi
- Winter: does not nest here, in 35 of 82 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 Mississippi.
Plant genera in its diet records (2)
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Mississippi, 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 119
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
- Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
Plants 1094
- 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
- Carolina HorsenettleSolanum carolinense var. carolinense
- Blackeyed SusanRudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
- Gray Ground-cherryPhysalis grisea
All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Mississippi
Prairies and grasslands
Birds 44
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- Lark SparrowChondestes grammacus
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
Plants 240
- Whorled SunflowerHelianthus verticillatus
- Dakota Vervain; Dakota Mock VervainGlandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida
- Black Belt Black Eyed SusandRudbeckia terranigrae
- Pale Wild Bergamot; Pale Wild Bee BalmMonarda fistulosa var. mollis
- Rydbergs Blazing StarLiatris hirsuta
- Rough Blazing-starLiatris aspera
- Silphium radulaSilphium radula
- Manyflower Marsh-pennywortHydrocotyle umbellata
- Elliptic Spike RushEleocharis elliptica
- Catchfly Prairie GentianEustoma exaltatum
- Prairie CelestialNemastylis geminiflora
Forest edges and thickets
Birds 66
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
- Blue-winged WarblerVermivora pinus
- Chestnut-sided WarblerDendroica pensylvanica
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- Rufous HummingbirdSelasphorus rufus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- American Tree SparrowSpizella arborea
- Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus
- Buff-bellied HummingbirdAmazilia yucatanensis
Plants 172
- Rosinweed SunflowerHelianthus silphioides
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Buffalo CloverTrifolium reflexum
- Giant SunflowerHelianthus giganteus
- Cutleaf GoldenrodSolidago arguta
- Hairy GoldenrodSolidago hispida var. hispida
- Old Field AsterSymphyotrichum pilosum var. pilosum
- Hairy LettuceLactuca hirsuta
- Upland BonesetEupatorium sessilifolium
- Earleaf GreenbrierSmilax auriculata
- Creeping LespedezaLespedeza repens
- Matted CrowngrassPaspalum minus
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

























































