We're well into winter in Phoenix, and I've become quite familiar with many of the migratory birds spending the season in my desert city. It's usually the water fowls that I mostly notice, like the wood ducks, ring-necked ducks, northern shovelers and goldeneyes that frequent the canals and lakes that crisscross my neighborhood. But just recently I identified a new songbird visiting the area: the western meadowlark.
In my very unscientific calculation, white-crowned sparrows might be the most numerous of the songbirds, or passerines, wintering over here. Early in the season I saw quite a few of their sparrow cousins, the dark-eyed juncos. Any other visiting sparrows I'm observing are lone individuals of Lincoln's sparrows and green-tailed towhees. Also, some warblers, mostly yellow-rumped, are appearing in the trees around town.
Several weeks ago I noticed a number of starling-like birds gathering on the golf course up my street. I saw them again on Sunday; this time I was able to snag a few photos for a positive identification of the meadowlarks.
I've seen this member of a bird family that includes blackbirds and orioles before. It was in the grasslands around Watson and Willow Lakes in Prescott, prime habitat for the species. But these recent sightings are the first times I've seen the birds in Phoenix.
They were gathered in a flock of seven or eight birds. Flying short distances from one patch of turf to another, the meadowlarks didn't seem to pay much attention to the golfers and the carts tramping nearby. And vice versa. Except for the occasional pestering by a curious birder like myself, the visiting birds seemed happily at home.
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| Western meadowlark in Phoenix. |
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| Western meadowlark in Phoenix. |
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| Western meadowlark in Phoenix. |
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| Western meadowlarks in Phoenix. |
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