Wings on the River: Meadowlarks and dogs

A bird’s voice apparatus, the syrinx, is different from a mammal’s larynx. Each half of the branching organ vibrates its own membranes independently, allowing some, like catbirds and thrashers, to sing in harmony with themselves.

Western meadowlarks slur together one to six “pure whistles” and up to five “gurgling warbles,” producing a song no mammalian throat can imitate and few rival meadowlarks, or passing humans, can ignore.

Each meadowlark can learn up to a dozen songs, switching from tune to tune in response to the songs its neighbors sing. That’s not too impressive, for a songbird — in the Eastern states, one Eastern Meadowlark can learn up to a hundred unique songs.

Sometimes a long, blurred, frantic, monotone burst of song is given on the wing, in mad pursuit of other meadowlarks.

For a male, that’s his job. His mates — usually two, who share his stunning coloration — do most of the nesting.

For such a stunning yellow bird, the Western Meadowlark can hide well. Its back mimics the dull striped colors of old, dead grass. Song silenced, yellow breast tucked into a nest, the female disappears — fortunately, because she nests on the ground, where chicks are vulnerable to disturbance and predation.

Meadowlarks need good habitat, too, full of nutritious food and enough concealment for nesting, and escaping predators. Around The Dalles, that often means a nature reserve, or open space, with a rich diversity of native plants — one not taken over by nonnative grass, or depleted of biodiversity by overgrazing.

Dogs off-leash, even tame obedient dogs, can be problematic in such places, though.

The dog may not chase meadowlarks. They might not even want to. They’re just having fun, being a dog, on a lovely spring morning.

But to ground-nesting birds of any species, from common Chipping Sparrows to tiny blue-and-yellow Nashville Warblers and unusual Lark Sparrows that sing almost as madly as meadowlarks, a dog near the nest is dead serious. Dogs are predators to birds, who react accordingly.

Mothers might flush from the nest, exposing eggs to cold spring wind or too-hot sunlight. If that happens often, they might just abandon their nest.

Bird’s distress calls can draw wild predators to the nest, too — like those curious and intelligent corvids, crows and ravens, who eat baby birds if they can.

If curiosity brings a wandering dog too close, it might also flatten a nest, or its concealing herbs.

And fight-or-flight responses can be tough on birds. They’re already using lots of energy, producing huge nutrient-rich eggs, and singing like mad all morning. That’s work one study suggested a bird uses almost 100% of its breath for singing. You just use 2% of your breath when you sing.

So, one impactful thing you can do for meadowlarks is keep dogs on leashes, of just a few feet, on spring grasslands.

But don’t stay away! On mornings silver with dew, patches of protected habitat become concert halls — five meadowlarks, or more, exchanging tirades from all points of the compass.