Lark Bunting

About the Lark Bunting

The lark bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys) is a medium-sized American bunting native to central and western North America. It was designated the state bird of Colorado in 1931. The lark bunting is monotypic, the only member of the genus Calamospiza, and is not closely related to any other genera. It was first described by J. K. Townsend in 1837, from a specimen collected on a trip he took with Thomas Nuttall, under the name Fringilla bicolor. This is a preoccupied name, so Leonhard Hess Stejneger renamed the species in 1885 Calamospiza melanocorys. By then, the lark bunting had already been given its own genus, the one it is still placed in, by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1838.

Lark buntings are small songbirds, with a short, thick, bluish bill. There is a large patch of white on the wings and they have a relatively short tail with white tips at the end of the feathers. Breeding males have an all black body with a large white patch on the upper part of the wing. Nonbreeding males and females look similar and are grayish brown with white stripes.

Measurements: Length: 5.5–7.1 in (140–180 mm) Weight: 1.3–1.5 oz (37–43 g) Wingspan: 9.8–11.0 in (250–280... Wikipedia →