Species-Specific Management (SSM)

Eastern Meadowlark

In order to increase a population of eastern meadowlarks, Sturgnella magna, there are three areas of work: habitat needs, food habits, and reducing mortality.

HABITAT NEEDS

Eastern meadowlarks prefer habitats with good grass and litter cover. They are naturally most common in native grassland, pasture, and savanna type habitats such that grass height is maintained between 4 to 12 inches with scattered forbs. If vegetation and litter cover are sufficient, then the meadowlark will also inhabit areas such as weedy borders of croplands, roadsides, orchards, golf courses, and reclaimed strip mines.

Management objectives should be to:

1. Increase native grasslands, pastures, savannas, and hay fields.
2. Protect existing native grasslands, pastures, savannas, and hay fields.
3. Protect from cutting or destruction any secondary habitat types that the meadowlark is known to inhabit, as described above, so as to maintain vegetation at 4 to 12 inches.
4. Increase the acreage of these "other" areas and maintain the same vegetation standards.
5. Maintain grazing areas using a rotational system so as to stabilize the amount of cover in height, density, and variety.
6. Maintain areas in grassland habitat type by controlling the natural change of fields into woodlands.

FOOD HABITS

Meadowlarks feed almost entirely on top of the ground or just beneath soil and under items (clods, manure, etc.). Seventy-five percent of their diet is insects, mostly crickets and grasshoppers in summer, and caterpillars, cut worms and grubs in the spring. In the winter the meadowlark eats noxious weed seeds and waste grains (mainly corn).

Management objectives should be to:

1. Avoid spraying insecticides near the bird's areas.
2. Leave or place waste grains on the ground for their consumption.
3. Avoid spraying herbicides on the weeds that provide them with seeds.
4. Retain grown-over weed areas by allowing them to grow.
5. Protect or put in fence post for perches for singing and finding prey.

MORTALITY

Like most birds meadowlarks have a high mortality rate during the first year of life. Mortality factors affecting it include mowing, poisoning, nest trampling, and being disturbed by people, and being taken by predators.

Management objectives should be to:

1. Trap, remove, or control the populations of predators (foxes, cats, dogs, coyotes, snakes, skunks, raccoons, and other small mammals).
2. Mow only every three to five years and only during August (after breeding).
3. Avoid surface tilling for spring weed control (this destroys all nest and kills young and parents).
4. Do not put out poison for rodent or insect control.
5. Protect area from excessive cattle movement.
6. Keep human presence in or around nesting areas down to a minimum (if a bird is flushed from the nest by humans, most of the time it will abandon the nest site and thus abort the young.
7. Do not attempt to approach nests before young have hatched.
8. If necessary, erect fences to keep people and predators out of the nesting site.

IMPROVING VIEWING OPPORTUNITIES:

1. Return from winter: late March
2. Breeding occurs: April to August.
3. Post notices around breeding areas (include a warning not to approach) so people know where to look.
4. Consider placing out grains as a sort of "feeding area."
5. During breeding season the birds are active most of the day, first singing from perches, then gathering nest material and especially when gathering insects for their young.
6. Keep records on successes and failures so that improvements can be made in the management actions.

A contribution of Jewel A. Trent (1996), Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0321

This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision January 17, 2000.