The Story
On June 29, 2017, I photographed this Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) at La Florida near Bogotá, Colombia. Its song is a series of pure, melancholy whistles. It occurs from eastern North America to northern South America. Adults have yellow underparts with a black V on the breast and brown, black-streaked upperparts. Ninety bird species have been recorded at La Florida. La Florida is a wetland and park known as the Parque Metropolitano La Florida, near the Bogotá River.
I used a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM for this one, at 1/400 sec, f/8, ISO 100. IUCN lists the Eastern Meadowlark as Near Threatened with a decreasing population, and the Bogotá Water Company is in charge of restoring the city’s wetlands, which support more than 95 species of migratory birds.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) belongs to the family Icteridae (Troupials and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List