Sturnella magna
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna) is a medium-sized icterid bird, very similar in appearance to its sister species, the western meadowlark. It occurs from eastern North America to northern South America, where it is also most widespread in the east. The Chihuahuan meadowlark was formerly considered to be conspecific with the eastern meadowlark.
The eastern meadowlark was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the larks and pipits in the genus Alauda and adopted the binomial name Alauda magna. Linnaeus based his description on the "large lark" that had been described and illustrated in 1729–1732 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby. Catesby also used the Latin Alauda magna but as his book predates the introduction of the binomial system, he is not acknowledged as the authority. Catesby reported that "they inhabit Carolina, Virginia and most of the Northern continent of America." Confusingly, Linnaeus specified the habitat as "America, Africa". The type location was restricted to South Carolina by the American Ornithologist's Union in 1931. The eastern meadowlark is now placed... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 4 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Meadowlark sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 358 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 126th most-seen of the 279 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March to June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Meadowlark in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in July to February, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Meadowlark sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
18th of 36
Of the 36 parks where we can rate Eastern Meadowlark sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 18th at under 5%. The best odds are in Padre Island National Seashore (United States, about 40%), Everglades National Park (United States, about 20%) and Chingaza National Natural Park (Colombia, about 20%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Icteridae
The closest relatives of the Eastern Meadowlark that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (family Icteridae, New World Blackbirds and Orioles) are Boat-tailed Grackle (about 70%), Red-winged Blackbird (about 40%) and Common Grackle (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Meadowlark is recorded against all the birds logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (358 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
