Lark buntings are a striking, easy-to-spot bird of the prairies. Learn what a lark bunting looks and sounds like, and what the bird eats.
What Does a Lark Bunting Look Like?
Standing in stark contrast to the vast blue sky and the golden green prairie grasses, the bold black-and-white male lark bunting is a handsome sight to see.
During the breeding season, these distinguished male sparrows are velvety black with white wing accents, a beautiful match for their pale gray beaks. Females, fledglings and nonbreeding males are sandy brown, sporting similar white wing coverts and fine-lined feather edges.
DID YOU KNOW: It may surprise you to learn that this bird is classified as a sparrow, rather than a true member of the bunting bird family.
Habitat and Range Map
These birds prefer grassland and shrub-steppe habitats throughout central North America. Spot them near cattle feedlots and weedy roadside edges. “They’re open-country birds … airspace is habitat for them too,” says Sandra Johnson, a conservation biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.
Lark buntings change their breeding sites and wintering grounds depending on the conditions. When migrating for the winter, they will travel until they find an area with an abundance of food. This is often a place that has received ample late-summer rains but can vary year to year.
What Do Lark Buntings Eat?
During fall, winter and spring, lark buntings usually travel in flocks of their own kind. They generally don’t visit feeders, but you can try to tempt them to your yard during migration by providing open space with native plants, such as wheatgrass, needle-and-thread grass, blue grama grass and big sagebrush.
The birds forage for seeds, grains and fruits, and in the summer, their diets can consist of up to two-thirds invertebrates. These buntings are agile predators that chase insects in flight or on foot, and glean them from plants.
Nesting Habits
The domestic arrangements of lark buntings are curious. They live in a loose colony and place cup nests at the bases of shrubs, grasses and cactuses. While typically monogamous, males sometimes breed with multiple partners. When a colony has unmated males, they can take on the role of “nest helper” and deliver the nestlings dinner.
Plummeting Population
The Bird Conservancy of the Rockies indicates that lark buntings are in steep decline. As a response to drought, food reduction and habitat loss, their population has fallen 86% since 1970. This is why conservation efforts are so important.
“The lark bunting is one of the species we’ve identified as in decline and one we’re concerned about, since the first State Wildlife Action Plan,” Sandra says. These action plans were first submitted state by state to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in 2005. “The whole point of these plans is to prevent species from being listed as threatened or endangered.”
Lark Bunting Sounds
Lark buntings have elaborate flight patterns, especially during breeding season. They forcefully launch themselves in the air, up to 30 feet, then gently drift downward, accompanied by a song of tiny whistles and trills.
Bird sounds courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
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