KILLER MEADOWLARKS

I’ve heard it said that a meadowlark can be lured to a backyard feeder, but I’ve never seen it done. The meadowlarks I know maintain a reliable distance between themselves and civilization. Though their singing can reach my country door-step, they are rarely seen anywhere near the house.      So when I looked out the window, and saw a dozen of them walking around on the lawn, I was more than a little surprised! I wondered why they would venture so close when I had a chilling thought: Maybe the rumors were true!      I had heard a rumor on the Internet that meadowlarks sometimes kill and eat other birds, but I didn’t know if it was true. You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet. There had been a photograph, a killer meadowlark standing over its poor American Goldfinch victim. But a photograph can lie too nowadays, so I hadn’t given the matter much thought.      Then I found myself watching as all those meadowlarks came creeping ever closer to the house. I thought of all those Goldfinches I like to feed — maybe the meadowlarks were after my fat finches! Fortunately for me (and the finches) I witnessed no mayhem, but I did chase down that rumor to see if it was true.      Meadowlarks are generally beloved. They are the golden-breasted songsters of the prairie — sturdy, big-bellied birds of open country known for eating grasshoppers, weed seed, and grain. They are exceedingly popular, having been named the official state bird of Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wyoming!      If I’m going to tamper with such sterling reputations, I’d better rely on something more reliable than the Internet. So I turned to the Oklahoma Ornithological Society. Their official Bulletin listed several articles about meadowlark predation, so I set out to read what they had to say.      Meadowlark fans would consider it a scandal. One day in early February, 1985, with eight inches of snow on the ground and bitter cold, an Oklahoma woman reported seeing meadowlarks at her feeder -- she too had never seen them there before. For several days they availed themselves of her birdseed. They also killed and devoured at their leisure several dozen Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches, birds only half their size! The weapons that are used are the meadowlarks’ long sharp beaks.      During another frigid spate of weather, in January 1979, Oklahoma Park Ranger Wes Masonhall and engineer Michael Schrick reported an extraordinary scene: A meadowlark lunged at a Tree Sparrow and grabbed it with both feet, a move that caused them both to fall over. It would have been almost comic, if the Tree Sparrow had not been so quickly killed.      Now in the meadowlark’s defense, these murderous rages appear to be few and far between, and tend to occur in the most frigid weather. But even still, their behavior does verge on the sinister. They will feed alongside their victims for awhile, the picture of innocence, steadily sidling closer and closer until ready to pounce. Once they make their move, it’s all over for the small birds. A mercy, I suppose, that it’s as quick as it is.      I fear to dig any deeper. This must be a time to consider things with a long lens. If certain critters are wired to kill, there’s no use blaming them for it. We’ll just have to forgive our meadowlarks for being both Jeckle and Hyde. They are, for the most part, excellent birds and I for one continue to be a huge fan.      But, all the same, you might want to take precautions if the meadowlarks start sneaking up on you! [Thanks to the Bulletin of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society.]