[cobirds] two different songs at one place: one species?

Ted,

Your recent post on White-throated Sparrows has 'forced' me out of my shell to mention a conundrum here at the southern end of the Front Range, especially now that Spring singing has resumed.

I hear two meadowlark songs.

We moved here in 2018. I grew up in Illinois, yet spent most of my years learning bird songs in Texas {I didn't learn much there.}

My wife grew up in Western Kansas and knows well the song of the Western Meadowlark. She recognizes it and can whistle it. {I cannot whistle at all.}

But I can listen and I can record.

When I listen, I hear two meadowlark songs. One is the typical Western Meadowlark song, the other is shortened: abrupt. I hear the two each morning and evening.

I've gone back into old recordings, to compare what I hear with what has been recorded. The closest recording I have found (yet) is Richard Webster's xeno-canto 2021 recording in Chihuahua, Mexico (XC676917). That seems to be a perfect match for what I have been calling the second song.

I do not see these birds singing the 'second' song; they are always hidden in the grass. Our grass is 12 to 24 inches high.

So, this is a conundrum.

Several months of singing are ahead. A good camera. A good camera. A license to collect birds and blood samples would be needed. And, of course, time.

David Matson

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David Matson

La Veta, Colorado

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