Lark Bunting

The Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys) is a medium-sized American Sparrow native to central and western North America. This amazing bird species has also been the state bird of Colorado, since 1931.

About Lark Buntings

The Lark Bunting is monotypic, meaning it is the only member of the genus Calamospiza. It is not closely related to any other genera. This bird species literally had a whole genus made just for itself, in 1838, highlighting how special this bird is.

Lark Buntings are small, sweet songbirds, with short, thick, bluish bills. They’re known for their songs, calls, and their distinct Magpie-like appearance (in males). These birds are extremely interesting creatures, with males and females of the species looking vastly different from one another. It is very easy to get confused since males and females look different, but that’s where this article comes in.

This article will help you study the behavior of Lark Buntings, map out their range, help you identify them based on their appearance. There are certain criteria one must study which are integral to bird-watching to help identify species better. We have some of the most vital information on Lark Buntings for this purpose. Today you will learn:

● Lark Bunting Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Lark Bunting Size, Eating behavior, Habitat
● Lark Bunting Range and Migration, Nesting

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Lark Bunting Color Pattern

Lark Buntings are small songbirds, with short, thick, bluish-grey bills. They have large patches of white on their wings and they have relatively short tails with white tips at the end of their feathers. The interesting thing about these birds is that breeding males look vastly different from non-breeding males and females.

Females and males normally look the same, but breeding males have distinct all-black bodies with large white patches on the upper part of their wings. Nonbreeding males, as well as females and immature members of the species, are brownish above, pale with brown streaking below, with extensive white in the upper wing coverts and small white tips to the inner tail feathers.

Description and Identification

Lark Buntings are among the most striking bird species found inNorth America. Breeding males are velvety black with snow-white wing coverts and fine white edges to the innermost flight feathers (the tertials). Females, immatures, and nonbreeding males are sandy brown but also have white in the wing, which is most apparent when the birds are flying. In their preferred grassland habitats, they feed among other Sparrows or with Quail, often near road edges and often in flocks.

The best way to identify these birds is through their chunky, thick bills. These birds prefer wide-open habitats and often breed in grasslands, especially shortgrass prairies. You can almost always see them around other Sparrow species, as well. As mentioned earlier, breeding males are unmistakable, with their mostly jet black plumages, and bold white wing patches.

Nonbreeding males and females are overall streaky brown but still, show white wing patches. When identifying this species, one must always look for the thick silvery bill. They also gather in huge flocks during the winter and are usually on the ground or perched on a fence. Another distinct identifying factor of these birds is their song and calls since they are well-known singers.

Lark Bunting Song

In spring and summer, male Lark Buntings sing two different songs, which are both composed of repeated notes. They are sung either slowly and distinctly or more rapidly, as trills. Their songs are delivered in distinct phrases and can last up to 8 seconds. Males arrive on the breeding territory, ahead of the females and sing an aggressive flight song. marked by harsher notes and pauses between phrases. As males establish territories and pairs form, they switch to singing a sweeter, faster song.

Apart from these distinct and varying songs, Lark Buntings also have a plethora of calls for different purposes. The most common call note, often given by birds in flight, is a distinctive, gentle “hweee”, given by both sexes. Parents returning to the nest give a chittering call and while feeding young, they give a “whert” call. Young and hungry birds begging for food sometimes give an insect-like buzzy call.

Lark Bunting Size

Lark Buntings are fairly small birds, like all Sparrows. They are larger than Song Sparrows and slightly smaller than Fox Sparrows. Once they reach adulthood, they average at a length of 5.5-7.1 inches, with wings that span around 9.8-11 inches. When fully grown, they tend to weigh 35.3-41.3 grams on average.

Lark Bunting Behavior

Lark Buntings forage mostly on or near the open ground, hopping like other Sparrows as they feed. Though they walk around like other Sparrows as they feed, they also employ a unique and distinct gallop when pursuing fast insect prey, with one foot coming down just before the next. During migration and in winter they form flocks of up to several hundred birds. “Skylarking” males give trilling songs in flight over their territories.

Male Lark Buntings sing in flight or from a perch in a taller shrub, fence, or utility wire. Singing males are most evident in flight. They ascend rapidly, then glide earthward, with most of the song given as they slowly descend. Males arrive on the breeding grounds earlier than females and begin to establish territories where suitable nesting sites (shade-providing plants) are plentiful.

At this time, before the arrival of the females, males frequently deliver a flight song containing more pauses and harsh notes than the song they give later in the season. This different song seems to indicate aggression toward other males, as the males establish individual territories.

Males that clash early in the nesting season also communicate aggression by flicking their wings, ruffling the feathers, or contorting the body. Because the birds’ territories are relatively small and thus close together, some observers have assumed that Lark Buntings are colonial nesters that don’t hold individual territories, but this is not the case. Females also show aggression toward other females that enter their territory, and in a few cases, observers have seen Lark Buntings chase Sparrows that approached the nest too closely. Once the young hatch, the parents forage away from the territory. After breeding, Lark Buntings gather into flocks that migrate, both diurnally and nocturnally, southward toward wintering areas. Most are observed in open lowland areas, but they have been seen at elevations in the Rockies as high as 12,900 feet during migration.

Lark Bunting Diet

In a nutshell, Lark Buntings’ diets consist of mostly insects and seeds. Their summer diet is predominantly insects, especially grasshoppers, also beetles, true bugs, bees, ants, and many others. Their winter diets consist of seeds, mainly those of weeds and grasses, also some waste grain.

Like other Sparrows, Lark Buntings feed on seeds, invertebrates, and some fruits. They likely eat more insects than seeds from spring through autumn: studies in Colorado indicate that about two-thirds of the summer diet is composed of invertebrates. Young are fed mostly insects. Foraging Lark Buntings take seeds while feeding on the ground or strip seeds from grasses and other plants, much in the manner of other Sparrows. In pursuit of insects, Lark Buntings are agile and versatile predators, stalking, then chasing them down on foot, pursuing them in flight (females
more so than males), and gleaning them from vegetation. One study found that females foraging on the ground moved more quickly than males. Their diet includes seeds of many types of grass and forbs, cactus fruit, grains, and leaves, as well as spiders, ants, grasshoppers, flies, beetles, bees, wasps, caterpillars, moths, leafhoppers, and many other invertebrates.

Lark Bunting Habitat

Lark Buntings breed in open grasslands, usually with at least some element of sagebrush, but they also forage and even nest in hayfields and other agricultural fields in some parts of their range. Wintering flocks can be found in many similar habitats from the southern Great Plains into northern Mexico.

Lark Buntings are endemic to the grasslands and shrubsteppe of North America, they occur nowhere else. When breeding, they are most likely to be found in large areas of native grassland vegetation, especially wheatgrass, blue grama grass, needle-and-thread grass, and big sagebrush. Lark Buntings live among many species of prairie vegetation, including red triple-awn grass, four-winged saltbush, cotton thorn, thornbush, and green-plumed rabbitbrush, all plants in which the birds may nest. Lark Buntings avoid bare ground when nesting (since Horned Larks are often found there), preferring shortgrass and taller habitats. They usually nest at the base of a small shrub or cactus, so pure grassland is usually not suitable for breeding habitats. Heavily grazed shortgrass habitats, prairie dog towns, and recently burned fields are not generally used.

Wintering and migrating Lark Buntings usually occur in flocks, sometimes with other Sparrows, in many types of open habitats, including dry lake beds (playas) at times. Across large areas of their wintering range, abundant natural food is available chiefly where erratic summer rains have fallen. This unpredictability means that Lark Buntings are nomadic during winter, and they frequently show up in human-modified habitats such as cattle feedlots and weedy roadside edges.

Range and Migration

Lark Buntings are medium-distance migrants. They are the most prevalent of the passerine species found in the grasslands of North America. Their breeding habitat is prairie regions in central Canada and the mid-western United States. These birds migrate in flocks to winter southern Texas, Arizona, and the high plateau of northern Mexico in the fall.

Lark Bunting Lifecycle

Lark Buntings have 1 brood per year, sometimes 2. They lay 4-5 eggs, and sometimes even 3-7. Their eggs are pale blue to greenish-blue, usually unmarked, and sometimes dotted with reddish-brown. Incubation is done mostly by females of the species, while males are also seen helping at times. The incubation period lasts around 11-12 days. Once incubated and hatched the nestlings are fed by both the parents. Once strong enough to be independent and on their own, the young probably leave the nest about 9 days after hatching.

These birds are quite resilient and may be able to survive periods of drought without drinking water, taking moisture from grasshoppers and other insects, their chief food during summer. They go on to live fulfilling lives, with the oldest recorded Lark Bunting being a male, having lived at least 4 years, 10 months!

Nesting

Lark Buntings arrive on breeding grounds in flocks, then these flocks break up and males set up territories. In courtship, males perform a flight song display, where they fly up to 20-30 inches above the ground, then float or flutter back to the ground on outstretched wings, while singing. One male may have more than one mate.

The female selects the site for the nest, normally a small depression at the base of a shrub, cactus, or large grass clump that will provide cover and shade. She indicates her preference by scraping the site with her feet. The nests are then built on the ground by both sexes. The nests are normally in grassy areas, usually sheltered or protected by overhanging grass or weeds. Lark Bunting nests are often sunken in small depressions in the soil so that the rims of the nests are level with the ground or only slightly above it.

The nest is a loose cup formed of grass stalks, fine roots, leaves, and stems, lined with fine-blade grasses or hair. The nest’s upper rim is even with the surrounding ground or just above it. Nests measure about 3.7 inches across, with the interior of the cup 3 inches across and 1.5 inches deep. The height of the nest varies from about 1.5 to 3 inches.

Anatomy of Lark Buntings

Lark Buntings are a heavyset Sparrow species with very large and conical bills, and compact, robust bodies. Their bills and overall shape are reminiscent of a Grosbeak or Bunting.

It is very easy to distinguish between a non-breeding and breeding male of the Lark Bunting species, as non-breeding males look much like the females of the species (as well as the immature individuals). They are brownish above, pale with brown streaking below, with extensive white in the upper wing coverts and small white tips to the inner tail feathers. Breeding males; however, look vastly different. They are distinctly and unmistakably black with white wing patches, making them look almost like dwarf versions of Magpies!

Final Thoughts

Lark Buntings are extremely adorable and have such sweet and lovely voices. They are definitely a must-see and must-hear for bird watchers everywhere. Now that you know how to identify these birds based on their appearance and behavior, they should be very easy to spot in the wild. What’s even better is that they are listed as “Least Concern” in the IUCN, making it that much easier to spot them, with their abundant populations!

You now know where you can see these birds in their natural habitats. Wouldn’t it be lovely to spot these amazing birds in your very own backyard? Sadly, very few backyards have enough open area to attract Lark Buntings regularly, but migrants do occasionally appear in backyards along with other sparrows. If you want to spot these small songbirds in your backyard, your backyard must be within the species’ range, have a water feature, a brush pile, an open sandy
area with some native grasses, and offerings of various seeds on the ground. All of this may just attract a Lark Bunting to your backyard during migration!

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

At the Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.

Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Lark Buntings

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Lark Buntings are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

Lark Bunting Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Lark Bunting. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders For Lark Buntings

There are many types of bird feeders. Bird feeders are a great addition to your backyard. Bird feeders will increase the chances of attracting birds drastically. Both kids and adults will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. There are a wide variety of bird feeders on the market and it is important to find the best fit for you and your backyard.

Bird Houses For Lark Buntings

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.