#2942 "Meadowlark Silent Spring"

#2942 "Meadowlark Silent Spring" 
20x16 inches oils on stretched canvas.
Started April 20th, 2025

I paint as a "lark", but the background story is always important. Art and science can be the same. The word, as slang, means "a merry, carefree adventure; frolic; escapade; innocent or good-natured mischief; a prank". The slang adequately describes the free and easy approach to my artistic adventure. I am not caught up in the gallery game or the race for renown. My journey in art has concentrated on creativity and telling stories through the brush strokes. Learning more. This particular artistic step is also about the bird. 

I was thinking of Rachel Carson's 1962 book while I painted. We had not seen an Eastern Meadowlark within the Singleton Sanctuary for several years. Carson's book "Silent Spring" was deservedly named one of the 25 greatest science books of all time by the editors of Discover magazine in 2006. 

In the mid-1940s, Carson became concerned about the use of synthetic pesticides, many of which had been developed through the military funding of science after World War II. The United States Department of Agriculture's 1957 fire ant eradication program involved aerial spraying of DDT and other pesticides mixed with fuel oil. This lethal mix of toxins was even sprayed on private land. Carson decided to devote her research and her next book to pesticides and environmental poisons. Landowners on Long Island filed a suit to have the spraying stopped. Amazingly, they lost the suit, but the Supreme Court granted petitioners the right to gain injunctions against potential environmental damage in the future. It is always just about money... shame. 

In Ontario, Eastern Meadowlark populations have shown a long-term decline of 2.4% per year from 1966 to 2009. Over the most recent 10-year period, Ontario's Eastern Meadowlark population has declined by a higher average annual rate of 2.9%. The Breeding Bird Survey shows a statistically significant decline of 3.1% per year in Canada between 1970 and 2009, corresponding to a 71% overall decline. Loss of breeding habitat, changes in hayfield management, and poor reproductive output are factors contributing to the decline - largely human influences.

Meadowlark whistles are rare events now, at least for me. The birds like to sing from fenceposts and telephone lines or stalk through the grasses, probing the ground for insects with their long, sharp bills. On the ground, their brown-and-black dappled upperparts camouflage the birds among dirt clods and dry grasses. But upon perches, they reveal bright-yellow underparts and a striking black chevron across the chest. 

• The Eastern Meadowlark is not in the lark family (Alaudidae)—it’s a member of the blackbird family (Icteridae), which also includes cowbirds and orioles.
• A male Eastern Meadowlark typically has two mates at a time, rarely three.
• Taxonomists recognize up to 15 subspecies of Eastern Meadowlark.
• Although Eastern and Western Meadowlarks are nearly identical, the two species hybridize only very rarely. Mixed pairs usually occur only at the edge of the range where few mates are available.
• Where Eastern and Western Meadowlark ranges overlap in the central U.S., the two species refuse to share territories. Their songs sound totally different to each other, like a foreign language, so singing doesn’t always do the job of communicating territorial boundaries. Instead, the two species are likely to fight for territorial supremacy.
• An Eastern Meadowlark male can sing several different variations of its song. In New York, the songs from one male were analyzed using spectrograms; the bird sang more than 100 different patterns of song.
• The oldest known wild Eastern Meadowlark was at least 8 years, 8 months old. It was banded in Pennsylvania in 1926, and shot in North Carolina in 1935.

I had to rely on another image taken by my friend John Verburg. John was "not sure where the term 'Happy as a Lark' originated, but after watching this fellow for a while, I would say it is fitting! Eastern Meadowlarks are considered a threatened species, but efforts to protect their habitat seem to be working since they appear to be more abundant again in recent years. Males and females look the same."

I hope that John is correct that the Meadowlark population is recovering. The twisted bit of metal plumbing strapping that was tacked to the top of the fence post was included in the oils to indicate the influence of humans. Note the prevalence of large red dots in the following graphic. A similar motif was used in my painting. 

The background was intended to be dynamic with the notes from the meadowlark song swirling around in four dimensions. Plus, it was fun. 

There are a few "blue dots" north of Kingston where the Eastern Meadowlark numbers might be increasing since 2012, as John Verburg also observes. We can make a difference, but there must also be political will to let it happen. 

As I have mentioned before, I use these posts not just for art but to learn more about the science. Art and science are compatible. Being an eternal student keeps life interesting. 

Eastern Meadowlark populations have suffered a 71% overall decline between 1970 and 2009. At 3% per year and another 16 years between 2009 and 2025, the eastern meadowlark population could be diminished by 82% of the 1970 level. 

There will be five paintings of the Eastern Meadowlark (so far): #2854 "Eastern Meadowlark"; #2942 "Meadowlark Silent Spring"; #2943 "Happy As A Lark"; #2944 "On Watch Meadowlark"; and #2945 "Eastern Meadowlark Sing Loud".

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick