North Dakota State Bird
Western Meadowlark

• Official North Dakota State Bird: Western Meadowlark
• Family: Icteridae, Blackbirds
• Scientific name: Sturnella neglecta
• Length: 9.5" (24 cm)
• Diet: Insects, few spiders, sowbugs, snails; grass and forb seeds.
• Voice: Listen to Western Meadowlark Song (recorded by Cornell Lab of Ornithology) Song a rich, low, descending warble sleep loo lidi lidijuvil; begins with well-spaced, clear, short whistles and ends with rapid gurgle. Common call a low, bell-like pluk; blackbird-like but more musical; also a slow, dull rattle vididididididi. Flight call slightly lower than Eastern.
• Habitat: Grasslands, cultivated fields and pastures, meadows, prairies.
• Displays: Courtship: male spreads and drags tail, nape feathers erect, bill pointed sown, wings partly open, while softly singing; song-flight on rapidly vibrating wings, hovers slightly above vegetation.
• Number of broods: 2
• Nest: In natural or scraped depression; of coarse grass, lined with finer grass, hair. Domed canopy of grass, bark, forbs interwoven with surrounding vegetation; opening on one side.
• Eggs: Averages 3-7 white eggs, marked with browns, purples. 1.1" (28 mm).
• Incubation period: 13-15 days
• Fledge: 12 days after hatching
• Longevity Record: 6 Years and 6 months (according to USGS Bird Banding Lab) 

The Western Meadowlark has been adopted as the North Dakota State Bird (North Dakota Century Code, Chapter: 54-02-06).

The Western Meadowlark is also the State Bird of five other "Western" states besides North Dakota: Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, and Wyoming.

North Dakota State Bird Books

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