Chihuahuan Meadowlark

(Sturnella lilianae)

In 1930, ornithologists reported that meadowlarks in the southwestern United States were somewhat different from the widespread Eastern and Western Meadowlarks. The birds, which have a darker yellow chest, paler upperparts, a shorter bill, and other differences from their cousins, were classified as a subspecies of Eastern Meadowlark — Sturnella magna lilianae. The subspecies was known as Lilian’s Meadowlark.  Birders have speculated for decades that Lilian’s may be a distinct species, and now, after the better part of a century, the two populations are being recognized as distinct from Eastern Meadowlark. The North American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society announced that it is splitting lilianae and auropectoralis into a species to be known as Chihuahuan Meadowlark (Sturnella lilianae). The news appears in a new paper about the official checklist published August 3 in the journal Ornithology.

I saw my first Chihuahuan Meadowlark three days after the species split (August 6, 2022) at La Cienegas grasslands outside of Sierra Vista, Arizona.