Shot of the Month – April 2025

Some animals are masters of disguise, trying to quietly blend into the surrounding to avoid detection.  That does not seem to be the strategy of the Long-tailed Meadowlark shown here.  I photographed this dapper fellow in Patagonia, Chile.

The males, especially during the mating season, take on dramatic hues to attract the ladies.  The female birds also have red, but the coloring is more subdued as we can see here:

Another view of the female:

The Meadowlark is a New World bird that prefers grasslands, fields, and meadows, as the name suggests.  These birds spend much of their time on the ground as they search for insects and seeds.

There are eight species of meadowlark spread out across the Western Hemisphere.  Interestingly, all five of the species that live south of the Equator are adorned in red.  But the three species of meadowlark that usually live in North America are adorned in yellow.  Below is a Western Meadowlark that I photographed in Grand Teton National Park in the US, and he is clearly on team yellow.

Another shot of our lovely male:

Meadowlarks, the dashing fashion plate of the nearby meadow, with handy color coding for the directionally challenged (like me!).

(Blue Line = Equator)

Until next month…michael

Nikon Z9, Nikkor Z 100-400mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO 100