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1 June 2012 Nestling Diet of Eastern Meadowlarks in East-central Illinois
Susan Linn Ostrand, Eric K. Bollinger
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Abstract

We observed Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) nests in Conservation Reserve Program grasslands in east-central Illinois to examine the influence of the surrounding agricultural landscape on nestling diets. Esophageal ligatures were applied to 3- and 6-day old nestlings to examine food items brought to the nest. The most common items were spiders (44% of total volume; primarily wolf spiders [Hogna spp.]), followed by orthopterans (23%; crickets, grasshoppers, and katydids), and lepidopteran larvae (18%, primarily cutworms). Adult Eastern Meadowlarks foraged more often than expected in soybean fields.

Susan Linn Ostrand and Eric K. Bollinger "Nestling Diet of Eastern Meadowlarks in East-central Illinois," The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 124(2), 399-402, (1 June 2012). https://doi.org/10.1676/11-128.1
Received: 8 August 2011; Accepted: 1 November 2011; Published: 1 June 2012
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