Western Meadowlark

The Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is a medium-sized blackbird, very similar in appearance to the Eastern Meadowlark.

Adults have yellow underparts, with a black "V" on the breast, and white flanks which are streaked with black. Their upper parts are mostly brown, but also have black streaks. These birds have long pointed bills and their heads are striped with light brown and black.

These birds have a flute-like warbled song. These calls contrast with the simple, whistled call of the Eastern Meadowlark. The Western Meadowlark is the state bird of Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon and Wyoming.

Chimes produce inharmonic (as opposed to harmonic) spectra, although if they are hung at about 1/5th of their length (22.4%), the higher partials are dampened and the fundamental is brought out. This is common practice in high-quality wind chimes, which are also usually hung so the center ball strikes the center of the wind chime's length. Frequency is determined by the length, width, thickness, and material. There are formulas that help predict the proper length to achieve a particular note, though a bit of fine tuning is often needed.

This sound uses the following sound files from Freesound (http://www.freesound.org):