The Food Chain4 Aug 2024

Ep. 1358: Meadowlark - The Canary of the Prairie

John Marzluff, Emeritus Professor of Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Author of In Company of Meadowlarks

(Environmental Degradation and the Vanishing of Song birds)

Meadowlarks are the canaries of the prairie. Where one hears their song, its safe to go out onto the prairie. But where the meadlark’s song is no longer heard, there is danger on the prairie. And so we ask:

Can people get enough to eat if canaries sing?

Having grown up on that narrow slice of geography that lies between the peaks of the Rocky Mountains and the grasslands of the high prairie, I learned at a very early age to take joy at the song of the meadowlark.

The yellow-breasted robin-sized bird’s song could be heard from a great distance, when conditions allowed, and whenever I heard that song it would bring a moment of great joy to whatever I happened to be doing at the time. I would often try to whistle the song right back, though it did take a wet whistle to even come close.

However, the song of the meadowlark is becoming increasingly rare for the same reason buffalo no longer eat the prairie grasses in any significant number. People and their agriculture have moved onto the prairie, and meadowlarks – and many of their feathered kindred – have been forced to move out, thus portending that “silent spring” Rachel Carson promised. And so the canary of the prairie leads us to ask:

Can people grow enough food for themselves and allow birds to sing?

Contact: www.metrofarm.com

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