• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Sturnella magna (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) and S. lilianae (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) have been lumped as S. magna following AOU (1998), who note the two groups differ in plumage, morphology, and habitat preferences (Lanyon 1962; Rohwer 1972, 1976), but are quite similar in vocalizations (Lanyon 1962).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Near Threatened	A2abce+3bce+4abce
2018	Near Threatened	A2ace+3ce+4ace
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	25,400,000 km2
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	20,500,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	37000000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2019
Population trend	decreasing	-	estimated	2014-2024
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	3.15 years	-	-	-

Population justification: Partners in Flight (2019) estimate the global population size to be 37,000,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification:

Partners in Flight (2019) currently estimate that S. magma is undergoing annual population declines of ~3.26% throughout its range, which equates to a ~24.2% decline across the stipulated ten-year period. Such trends are supported by data from the Breeding Bird Survey, that estimates annual declines of ~3.31%, a ~28.6% decline over ten years (Sauer et al. 2017), and the Christmas Bird Count, that suggests a 3.24% rate of annual decline in the USA, ~28.1% across ten years (Meehan et al. 2018). Whilst the Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count only refer to trends in the USA/Canada and USA respectively, Partners in Flight provide estimates for S. magna's wider population and in the absence of specific trend data from elsewhere in its range, declines are tentatively place in the range 20-29% over the stipulated ten-year period. If population declines are evidenced to be higher throughout its non-North American range however, such rates of decline would need to be placed in a higher band.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Belize	extant	native	yes
Brazil	extant	native	yes
Canada	extant	native		yes
Colombia	extant	native	yes
Costa Rica	extant	native	yes
Cuba	extant	native	yes
El Salvador	extant	native	yes
French Guiana	extant	native	yes
Guatemala	extant	native	yes
Guyana	extant	native	yes
Honduras	extant	native	yes
Mexico	extant	native	yes
Nicaragua	extant	native	yes
Panama	extant	native	yes
St Pierre and Miquelon (to France)	extant	vagrant
Suriname	extant	native	yes
USA	extant	native	yes
Venezuela	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Colombia	Chaviripa-El Rubí
Colombia	Hato El Sinai
Colombia	La Aurora
Colombia	Parque Nacional Natural de Pisba
Mexico	Humedales de Alvarado
Mexico	Istmo de Tehuantepec - Mar Muerto
Mexico	Janos - Nuevo Casas Grandes
Mexico	Laguna de Bustillos
Mexico	Los Tuxtlas
Mexico	Marismas Nacionales
Mexico	Montes Azules
Mexico	Tecolutla

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Temperate	suitable	non-breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	non-breeding
Altitude	0 - 3500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success
Human intrusions & disturbance	Work & other activities	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/eastern-meadowlark-sturnella-magna on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.