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A familiar bird, known by the black 'V' on its chest when it sings from a fencepost, or by the flash of white tail feathers when it flushes from the grass. The clear whistled song of the Eastern Meadowlark can be heard in spring in native meadows and prairies, as well as hayfields, pastures, grassy roadsides, and other open country. In North America, this meadowlark lives only east of the Rockies, but other populations are found in Cuba and from eastern Mexico to northern South America. A similar bird in the southwestern U.S., formerly considered a local race of Eastern Meadowlark, was recognized in 2022 as a distinct species, Chihuahuan Meadowlark.