Grassland Birds


Declining grassland birds, such as Eastern and Western Meadowlark, rely on habitat provided by Farm Bill conservation programs. Private lands support 97% of the breeding range of Eastern Meadowlarks, and 73% of the range of Western Meadowlarks.
Eastern and Western Meadowlarks are widespread and familiar birds of grasslands and agricultural landscapes across the U.S. Both species are suffering long-term population declines. To illustrate the potential benefits of Farm Bill programs to widespread grassland birds, we overlaid a map of meadowlark abundance, based on data from eBird with a map of recent grassland conservation practices applied by private landowners with Farm Bill assistance. For more details on these maps, see Methods.