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Historic Status

Long before the European Starling invaded the United States, Massachusetts bird observers knew the Eastern Meadowlark as the “American Starling,” or “Marsh Quail.” They also knew it as a common sight in both meadows and old fields, and so it was throughout the nineteenth century, an era of unprecedented forest clearing and agricultural pursuit in Massachusetts (Howe & Allen 1901). Through the 1920s, the bird remained an easy check on a birder’s list in the Bay State and a welcome presence in the farm fields. As Forbush put it, “…it is one of the most useful birds of the fields, perhaps the most valuable. […] It eats about all the principal pests of the fields, and is particularly destructive to cutworms, hairy ground caterpillars, and grasshoppers” (Forbush 1927). Sadly, as reforestation commenced and old pastures vanished, darker days began to lie ahead for this once-common bird.

Atlas 1 Distribution

It is hard to believe that just 35 years ago Eastern Meadowlarks were found breeding in 44% of the Atlas 1 blocks, but easier to imagine they were strongly associated with areas of remnant grassland and coastal marsh in Atlas 1. They were widespread, with a few in every region. The Marble Valleys and Connecticut River Valley stood out clearly as areas of considerable meadowlark breeding activity in the west, but the surrounding regions had only a few handfuls of occupied blocks. Though the high and well-forested Worcester Plateau was similarly short on meadowlark habitat, the Lower Worcester Plateau reported a broader distribution of these striking blackbirds. The Coastal Plains hosted 36% of the species’ statewide distribution, with the birds likely favoring areas of pasture and hayfield inland and coastal marshlands farther east. The Bristol/Narragansett Lowlands boasted an impressive concentration of breeding meadowlarks around Middleboro and Bridgewater. The birds were broadly present but notably scarcer on Cape Cod and the Islands.

Atlas 2 Distribution and Change

By all measures and reports, the state of the breeding Eastern Meadowlark population in Massachusetts can best be described as “imperiled.” As the species has suffered one of the sharpest declines in block occupancy of any species in the state (44% in Atlas 1 to 10% in Atlas 2), the Eastern Meadowlark seems destined to become potentially another boutique species, rare and living on just a few managed parcels, and also a reminder of days when there were ample grasslands to support them in the state. Other species favoring grassland habitat seem likely to gradually share the same fate. The meadowlark’s range is fragmented across the state, and losses are found in every ecoregion. The Connecticut River Valley and Boston Basin, especially Essex County, still harbor some occupied blocks. Losses in much of the western regions are large, although fortunately that part of the state holds opportunities for recovery.

Atlas 1 Map

Atlas 2 Map

Atlas Change Map