LARK BUNTING

The 'Lark Bunting', ''Calamospiza melanocorys'', is a medium-sized sparrow. It is the only member of the genus ''Calamospiza'' (Bonaparte, 1838).
These birds have a large pale bill and a pale wing patch. Adult males in breeding plumage are black except for their white wing patch. Other birds are more sparrow-like in appearance; they have dark brown upperparts and white underparts, with streaking on the back, breast and flanks. The wings are dark with brown edges.
Their breeding habitat is prairie regions in central Canada and the mid-western United States. The nest is an open cup on the ground in a grassy area.
These birds migrate in flocks to southern Texas and Mexico.
They 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.
These birds 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''.
This bird's numbers have decreased with the loss of natural prairie habitat.
This is the state bird of Colorado.

Contents

References

External links

Further reading

Book

Thesis

Articles

References

★ Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

★ Lark Bunting Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

★ Lark Bunting - ''Calamospiza melanocorys'' - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter

★ Lark Bunting Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding

★ Lark Bunting videos on the Internet Bird Collection

Further reading

Book

★ Shane, T. G. 2000. ''Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys)''. In ''The Birds of North America'', No. 542 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Thesis

★ Chaine AS. Ph.D. (2006). ''The evolution of multiple sexual signals in a passerine: Trait structure and selection in a dynamic world''. University of California, Santa Cruz, United States -- California.

★ Pleszczynska W. Ph.D. (1978). ''Polygyny in the lark bunting''. University of Toronto (Canada), Canada.

★ Yackel Adams AA. Ph.D. (2005). ''Population demography of lark buntings: Post-fledging survival, fecundity, and breeding decisions''. Colorado State University, United States -- Colorado.

Articles

★ Adams AAY, Skagen SK & Savidge JA. (2006). ''Modeling post-fledging survival of Lark Buntings in response to ecological and biological factors''. Ecology. vol '87', no 1. p. 178-188.

★ Ashe VM & Taylor S. (1973). ''An Ethographic Analysis of the Flight Display of the Male Lark Bunting Calamospiza-Melanocorys Passeriformes Fringillidae''. American Zoologist. vol '13', no 4.

★ Baldwin PH, Butterfield JD, Creighton PD & Shook R. (1971). ''Summer Ecology of the Lark Bunting Pawnee Site''. Us Ibp. vol '1', no 1.

★ Bliese JCW & Einemann LL. (1970). ''Lark Bunting''. Nebraska Bird Review. vol '38', no 4.

★ Bock CE & Bock JH. (1987). ''Avian Habitat Occupancy Following Fire in a Montana USA Shrubsteppe''. Prairie Naturalist. vol '19', no 3. p. 153-158.

★ Burford FC. (1971). ''Lark Bunting at Pea Island North-Carolina''. Chat. vol '35', no 2.

★ Carson RJ & Spicer GS. (2003). ''A phylogenetic analysis of the emberizid sparrows based on three mitochondrial genes''. Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution. vol '29', no 1. p. 43-57.

★ Clancey PA. (1989). ''Subspeciation in the Lark-Like Bunting of the Southwestern Afrotropics''. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. vol '109', no 3. p. 130-134.

★ Creighton PD. (1971). ''Nesting of the Lark Bunting in North Central Colorado''. Us Ibp. vol '1', no 4.

★ Easterla DA. (1970). ''1st Nesting Colonies of the Lark Bunting in Missouri''. Wilson Bulletin. vol '82', no 4. p. 465-466.

★ Hallet ML. (1973). ''A Lark Bunting in Milwaukee County''. Passenger Pigeon. vol '35', no 1.

★ Hill RA. (1976). ''Host Parasite Relationships of the Brown-Headed Cowbird in a Prairie Habitat of West Central Kansas USA''. Wilson Bulletin. vol '88', no 4. p. 555-565.

★ Jehle G, Adams AAY, Savidge JA & Skagen SK. (2004). ''Nest survival estimation: A review of alternatives to the Mayfield estimator''. Condor. vol '106', no 3. p. 472-484.

★ Johnson DH & Igl LD. (1995). ''Contributions of the conservation reserve program to populations of breeding birds in North Dakota''. Wilson Bulletin. vol '107', no 4. p. 709-718.

★ Johnson RR. (1968). ''1968 Lark Bunting Sightings in Northeastern South-Dakota USA''. South Dakota Bird Notes. vol '22', no 4.

★ Jones ZF & Bock CE. (2002). ''Conservation of grassland birds in an urbanizing landscape: A historical perspective''. Condor. vol '104', no 3. p. 643-651.

★ Kantrud HA & Kologiski RL. (1982). ''Effects of Soils and Grazing on Breeding Birds of Uncultivated Upland Grasslands of the Northern Great Plains USA''. U S Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Research Report. vol '15', p. 1-33.

★ Lerg JM. (1976). ''Lark Bunting in Missaukee County''. Jack Pine Warbler. vol '54', no 1.

★ Lima SL. (1990). ''Protective Cover and the Use of Space Different Strategies in Finches''. Oikos. vol '58', no 2. p. 151-158.

★ Lokemoen JT & Koford RR. (1996). ''Using candlers to determine the incubation stage of passerine eggs''. Journal of Field Ornithology. vol '67', no 4. p. 660-668.

★ McNair DB & Dean JP. (2003). ''Distributional information on birds from egg sets collected by Henry Rogers Durkee in 1870 in southwestern Wyoming''. Western North American Naturalist. vol '63', no 3. p. 320-332.

★ McNeil R & Doyon D. (1970). ''Lark Bunting in Quebec''. Canadian Field Naturalist. vol '84', no 4.

★ Miles M. (1969). ''1st Specimen of the Lark Bunting from Alabama''. Auk. vol '86', no 4.

★ Nero RW. (1982). ''Post Copulatory Display in the Lark Bunting Calamospiza-Melanocorys and Other Species''. Wilson Bulletin. vol '94', no 4. p. 585-590.

★ Nero RW. (1993). ''Lark bunting: Western prairie marvel''. Blue Jay. vol '51', no 1. p. 30-33.

★ Peterson AT & Cohoon KP. (1999). ''Sensitivity of distributional prediction algorithms to geographic data completeness''. Ecological Modelling. vol '117', no 1. p. 159-164.

★ Pleszczynska W & Hansell RIC. (1980). ''Polygyny and Decision Theory Testing of a Model in Lark Buntings Calamospiza-Melanocorys''. American Naturalist. vol '116', no 6. p. 821-830.

★ Pleszczynska WK. (1978). ''Micro Geographic Prediction of Polygyny in the Lark Bunting''. Science. vol '201', no 4359. p. 935-937.

★ Pleszczynska WK. (1978). ''MICROGEOGRAPHIC PREDICTION OF POLYGYNY IN LARK BUNTING''. Science. vol '201', no 4359. p. 935-937.

★ Sealy SG. (1999). ''Cowbird parasitism on Lark Buntings: Frequency, acceptance, and fledging''. Journal of Field Ornithology. vol '70', no 2. p. 182-186.

★ Siljenberg AM. (1969). ''Lark Bunting in Clay County''. South Dakota Bird Notes. vol '22', no 3.

★ Skagen SK, Adams AAY & Adams RD. (2005). ''Nest survival relative to patch size in a highly fragmented shortgrass prairie landscape''. Wilson Bulletin. vol '117', no 1. p. 23-34.

★ Spicer GS. (1978). ''A New Species and Several New Host Records of Avian Nasal Mites Acarina Rhinonyssinae Turbinoptinae''. Journal of Parasitology. vol '64', no 5. p. 891-894.

★ Squires JR, Anderson SH & Oakleaf R. (1989). ''Food Habits of Nesting Prairie Falcons in Campbell County Wyoming USA''. Journal of Raptor Research. vol '23', no 4. p. 157-161.

★ Sterner RT, Petersen BE, Gaddis SE, Tope KL & Poss DJ. (2003). ''Impacts of small mammals and birds on low-tillage, dryland crops''. Crop Protection. vol '22', no 4. p. 595-602.

★ Taylor S & Ashe VM. (1976). ''The Flight Display and Other Behaviors of Male Lark Buntings Calamospiza-Melanochorys''. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society. vol '7', no 6. p. 527-529.

★ Teuber L. (1969). ''Lark Bunting in Oxon Hill Maryland USA''. Atlantic Naturalist. vol '24', no 2.

★ Tyler JD. (1985). ''The Lark Bunting Calamospiza-Melanocorys in Oklahoma USA''. Bulletin of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society. vol '18', no 4. p. 25-28.

★ Wilbur SR, Carrier WD & McCaskie G. (1971). ''The Lark Bunting in California''. California Birds. vol '2', no 2. p. 73-76.

★ Williams E. (1968). ''Birds About Milbank South-Dakota USA Scarlet Tanager Avocets Lark Bunting and Redstarts''. South Dakota Bird Notes. vol '22', no 4.

★ Winter SL, Cully JF, Jr. & Pontius JS. (2003). ''Breeding season avifauna of prairie dog colonies and non-colonized areas in shortgrass prairie''. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. vol '106', no 3-4. p. 129-138.

★ Winterbottom JM. (1972). ''Status of the Lark-Like Bunting in the South-West Cape''. Ostrich. vol '43', no 2.

★ With KA & Webb DR. (1993). ''Microclimate of ground nests: The relative importance of radiative cover and wind breaks for three grassland species''. Condor. vol '95', no 2. p. 401-413.

★ Wunder BA. (1979). ''Evaporative Water Loss from Birds Effects of Artificial Radiation''. Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology A. vol '63', no 4. p. 493-494.

★ Yackel Adams AA, Skagen SK & Adams RD. (2001). ''Movements and survival of Lark Bunting fledglings''. Condor. vol '103', no 3. p. 643-647.

★ Zimmerman JL. (1996). ''Comparison of water consumption between two grassland emberizids''. Prairie Naturalist. vol '27', no 4. p. 215-221.