Guides

The Chihuahuan Meadowlark is a pale desert-grassland songbird of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Learn its plumage, flutelike song, habitat, range, nesting behavior, and the best ways to separate it from Western and Eastern Meadowlarks.

Identify the Brown-headed Cowbird by its compact shape, thick bill, ground-feeding behavior, and the male’s brown hood. This guide covers female and juvenile plumage, range, calls, brood parasitism, similar species, and responsible nest observation.

Identify the Bronzed Cowbird by its red eyes, heavy bill, compact shape, glossy male plumage, and distinctive hunched display. This guide covers its southern range, habitats, brood-parasitic nesting, vocalizations, similar species, and practical viewing tips.

Identify the Eastern Meadowlark by its yellow underparts, black chest crescent, streaked back, white outer tail feathers, and clear whistled song. Learn where it lives, how it feeds and nests, and how to separate it from similar meadowlarks.

Identify the Western Meadowlark by its yellow breast, bold black V, streaked upperparts, white outer tail feathers, and flutelike song. This guide covers its range, grassland habitat, behavior, nesting, diet, and separation from the similar Eastern Meadowlark.

A practical guide to identifying Red-winged Blackbirds by plumage, voice, behavior, habitat, and range, with comparisons to similar species and useful details about migration, feeding, nesting, young, and conservation.

A practical guide to identifying Brewer’s Blackbird by its pale-eyed, iridescent male, plain gray-brown female, compact shape, ground-feeding behavior, habitat, voice, range, nesting biology, and differences from grackles, cowbirds, and other blackbirds.

Identify the remarkable Bobolink in every season, from the breeding male’s black, white, and buff plumage to the female’s sparrowlike pattern. Learn its voice, grassland habitat, migration, nesting behavior, and key differences from similar birds.

A practical guide to identifying the Boat-tailed Grackle, a large coastal blackbird known for glossy males, brown females, long keel-shaped tails, metallic calls, and a close association with southeastern marshes and waterfront habitats.