Yesterday I had a meeting for most of the day in Salida,CO area which is tucked into at around 7,000 feet in elevation and surrounded by 14,000 foot+ peaks. I did get in late afternoon birding before heading home down a winding canyon road. Since I had found Dickcissels in hay fields in the Salida area in 2006, I spent some time driving around these fields. Sibley notes that Eastern Meadowlarks have a mostly white malar and dark streaks on their sides.
Birds of North America online states, "Difficult to distinguish from Western Meadowlark. Yellow of throat on Eastern Meadowlark does not extend on to malar region in most subspecies (yellow in Western Meadowlark), birds average darker and browner above, with less discrete barring in wings and tail and more white in tail."
I was stopped in my tracks to hear a bird singing an Eastern Meadowlark song. In 2006 a Pueblo birder, Van, had found a meadowlark singing an Eastern Meadowlark song just west of Salida and I had refound that bird then. However it was too distant for me to see any field marks. As can be seen in these pics of the bird yesterday, I was able to get some very good photos that show field marks for Eastern Meadowlark.
As can be seen pretty clearly in these pics, this bird definitely has white malars and also has some stripes on it's sides. It also appears to be darker and browner on it's upperparts, and also don't think the barring on it's sides, from Western Meadowlarks but those are real subtle distinctiona. In sum with the call and field marks, I believe this is an Eastern Meadowlark in a unusually far west location. SeEtta
Yesterday I had a meeting for most of the day in Salida,CO area which is tucked into at around 7,000 feet in elevation and surrounded by 14,000 foot+ peaks. I did get in late afternoon birding before heading home down a winding canyon road. Since I had found Dickcissels in hay fields in the Salida area in 2006, I spent some time driving around these fields. Sibley notes that Eastern Meadowlarks have a mostly white malar and dark streaks on their sides. Birds of North America online states, "Difficult to distinguish from Western Meadowlark. Yellow of throat on Eastern Meadowlark does not extend on to malar region in most subspecies (yellow in Western Meadowlark), birds average darker and browner above, with less discrete barring in wings and tail and more white in tail."
I was stopped in my tracks to hear a bird singing an Eastern Meadowlark song. In 2006 a Pueblo birder, Van, had found a meadowlark singing an Eastern Meadowlark song just west of Salida and I had refound that bird then. However it was too distant for me to see any field marks. As can be seen in these pics of the bird yesterday, I was able to get some very good photos that show field marks for Eastern Meadowlark. 
As can be seen pretty clearly in these pics, this bird definitely has white malars and also has some stripes on it's sides. It also appears to be darker and browner on it's upperparts, and also don't think the barring on it's sides, from Western Meadowlarks but those are real subtle distinctiona. In sum with the call and field marks, I believe this is an Eastern Meadowlark in a unusually far west location. SeEtta
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