Sturnella superciliaris
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The white-browed meadowlark (Leistes superciliaris) is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It was formerly named white-browed blackbird but is not closely related to the red-winged blackbird group. The white-browed meadowlark breeds in north-eastern Brazil and in southern South America from south-western Brazil through Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. Southern populations are partially migratory.
Like other meadowlarks, it is a bird associated with open country, including moist grasslands, pasture and cultivation, preferably with the odd bush or fence post for males to use as a songpost. In display the male flies up to 10 m in the air, then parachutes down on folded wings whilst singing an initially buzzing song, followed by a series of notes TZZZZZZ-teee-chu-chu-chak-chak. The call is a short chuck.
The white-browed meadowlark builds a deep grass-lined open cup nest on the ground amongst tall grasses, with several nests often close together. The normal clutch is three to five reddish brown-blotched greenish eggs. This species is often parasitised by the shiny cowbird, and on one occasion 19 cowbird eggs were found with one meadowlark egg in a nest.
The white-browed meadowlark is a small icterid. The male has mainly black plumage, apart from a bright red throat, belly and wing epaulets, and a white supercilium. The female has buff edged dark brown upperpart feathers, buff underparts, and pale streaks through the crown and eye. Juveniles resemble the female, but are paler.
This species is very closely related to the red-breasted meadowlark, L. militaris, which breeds further north, and was formerly considered to be subspecies of that bird. The male white-browed is easily distinguished by his bright white supercilium, but females of the two species are almost identical. The female red-breasted meadowlark is longer billed, smaller, and shorter winged than the white-browed, with more red and less streaking on the underparts.
This gregarious bird feeds mainly on insects and some seeds, including rice, and forages on the ground like a bobolink. The white-browed meadowlark has benefited from the more open habitat created by forest clearance and ranching, and is extending its range. Wikipedia →
Recording0:03
Brazil · 2022
© Danielly Cortes · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:09
Argentina · 2021
© Juan M. Atencio · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:23
Brazil · 2023
© Luciano Bernardes · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | El Impenetrable National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Emas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Campo Grande | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | |
| 5 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 6 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Santos | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-browed Meadowlark sighting in São Paulo on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 319th most-seen of the 353 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-browed Meadowlark in São Paulo on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-browed Meadowlark sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 9 cities where we can rate White-browed Meadowlark sightings, São Paulo ranks 9th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia, under 5%), Campo Grande (Brazil, under 5%) and Buenos Aires (Argentina, under 5%).
Same family: Icteridae
The closest relatives of the White-browed Meadowlark that you can see in São Paulo (family Icteridae, New World Blackbirds and Orioles) are Shiny Cowbird (about 10%) and Chestnut-capped Blackbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-browed Meadowlark is recorded against all the birds logged in São Paulo (7 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
