Lark Bunting
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The lark bunting (''Calamospiza melanocorys'') is a medium-sized
American sparrow New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share th ...
native to central and western
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
. It was designated the state bird of
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
in 1931.


Taxonomy

The lark bunting is
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...
, the only member of the
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Calamospiza'', and is not closely related to any other genera. It was first described by J. K. Townsend in 1837, from a specimen collected on a trip he took with
Thomas Nuttall Thomas Nuttall (5 January 1786 – 10 September 1859) was an English botanist and zoologist who lived and worked in America from 1808 until 1841. Nuttall was born in the village of Long Preston, near Settle in the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
, under the name ''Fringilla bicolor''. This is a
preoccupied name In biology, a homonym is a name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another such name, that belongs to a different taxon. The rule in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is that the first such name to be published is the s ...
, so
Leonhard Hess Stejneger Leonhard Hess Stejneger (30 October 1851 – 28 February 1943) was a Norwegian-born American ornithologist, herpetologist and zoologist. Stejneger specialized in vertebrate natural history studies. He gained his greatest reputation with reptile ...
renamed the species in 1885 ''Calamospiza melanocorys''. By then, the lark bunting had already been given its own genus, the one it is still placed in, by
Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...
in 1838.


Description

Lark buntings are small songbirds, with a short, thick, bluish
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...
. There is a large patch of white on the wings and they have a relatively short tail with white tips at the end of the feathers. Breeding males have an all black body with a large white patch on the upper part of the wing. Nonbreeding males and females look similar and are grayish brown with white stripes. Measurements: * Length: * Weight: * Wingspan:


Distribution and habitat

The lark bunting is the most prevalent of the passerine species found in the grasslands of North America. Their breeding habitat is
prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
regions in central
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and the mid-western United States. These birds
migrate Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
in flocks to winter southern
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
and the high plateau of northern
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
in the fall.


Behavior


Breeding

The birds typically nest in dispersed colonies. Males fly up over their territory and sing while descending to declare ownership of a nesting territory. The song consists of a mix of whistles and trills. The call is a soft ''hoo''. The nest is an open
cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...
on the ground in a grassy area. While the lark buntings are socially
monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a relationship of two individuals in which they form a mutual and exclusive intimate partnership. Having only one partner at any one time, whether for life or serial monogamy, contrasts with various forms of non-monogamy (e.g. ...
, there is extensive extra-pair mating, observed through extra-pair paternity. In songbirds, it is suggested that social monogamy exists because of limited opportunities for
polygyny Polygyny () is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); . Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholar ...
. As expected, there is considerable aggression between males and between females, competing for mates. Many males are unable to find a social mate, which can be attributed to male-biased breeding sex ratio, social monogamy, and the frequency of extra-pair paternity. Acquisition of a social mate is an essential element of a male's fitness, thus social mating success plays a significant role in variable selection of male traits. Sexual selection in lark buntings is particularly interesting, as female
mate choice Mate choice is one of the primary mechanisms under which evolution can occur. It is characterized by a "selective response by animals to particular stimuli" which can be observed as behavior.Bateson, Paul Patrick Gordon. "Mate Choice." Mate Choi ...
is radically different from year to year. In different years, females show preference based on males' black coloring, size of wing patch, size of beak, as well as other characteristics. The consequence of this extreme variation of female choice from year to year is the maintenance of genetic variation in several different male sexual ornaments. A study measures body color, proportion of black versus brown feathers on rump and rest of body, wing patch size, wing patch color, body size, beak size, and residual mass, in order to evaluate the multiple characteristics potentially selected on by females. Social pairing success was measured as well as total annual fitness, finding female choice as the primary factor. Plasticity in female choice is favored for adapting to changes in
ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...
and social environments. Temporal flexibility in female choice parallels the phenomenon seen in
Darwin's finches Darwin's finches (also known as the Galápagos finches) are a group of about 18 species of passerine birds. They are well known for being a classic example of adaptive radiation and for their remarkable diversity in beak form and function. They ...
, with different beak sizes and shapes favored for changing food supply over years, defined as temporal selection in the context of natural selection. In lark buntings, a trait that is positively selected upon one year was likely negatively selected against in a previous year. These dramatic fluctuations highlight the importance of looking at sexual selection patterns over an extended period of time before drawing any conclusions. By looking at short time periods, however, it possible to identify female preference annually, however it is difficult to make any extrapolations for these assessments. An additional consequence of variation of female choice annually is the potential elimination of phenotypic selection for male trait exaggeration. Males are characterized as weakly territorial prior to mating, however, there has been some evidence on territory features correlating with female settlement, thus female reproductive success. Studies have shown that shade is an important resource for female reproductive success. As a fitness-limiting feature, it would be reasonable to expect this could account for any existing tendencies for males being territorial. However, levels of male aggression do not change, which lends to the conclusion that female choice corresponds with changes in fitness-indicator traits. Extra-pair mating has been corresponded with nesting site quality, adding further characterization to male aggression. Many studies have shown territory characteristics being important for mate acquisition; however, a recent study shows evidence of its decreased role in comparison to female choice.


Feeding

Lark buntings primarily forage on the ground, mainly eating insects in summer and seeds in winter; they sometimes take short flights in pursuit of insects. Outside of the nesting season, they often feed in flocks.


State bird

The lark bunting has been the state bird of
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
since 1931.


Status

There has been a decrease in population with the loss of natural prairie habitat.


References


External links


Lark bunting species account
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology

- USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
Lark bunting videos
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Authority control lark bunting lark bunting Symbols of Colorado Native birds of the Canadian Prairies Native birds of the Plains-Midwest (United States) lark bunting lark bunting