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Bobolink (BOB-uh-link) Dolichonyx oryzivorus Family: Icteridae (Blackbirds)  printable field guide compliments of www.neotropicalbirds.org |
Description: Male's breeding plumage is black with golden-tan nape patch, rump and a white wing base. After spring, the male sheds the rich breeding plumage and become pale brown. Female is tan with brown stripes on head, back, sides. Male tends to fly in slow circles with rapid beating wings. Spiked tail feathers. Most songbirds molt (shed and regrow feathers) gradually. But there are always exceptions. Most male Bobolinks, Tanagers and Warblers are practically unrecognizable once they've gone south because they molt their colorful breeding feathers. Nesting: Their nest is very difficult to find. Often on the ground hidden in the deep grass of a low field, or in hollow lined with grass, stalks. The female incubates a single brood of about 4 - 7eggs. Eggs are well camouflaged to match the ground color and vegetation debris with irregular coloring of mottled pale gray, tan, cinnamon and brown. Eastern populations are declining due to habitat loss and destruction: there are less hay fields, earlier mowing and double harvests of existing hay fields. The broods likely don't survive the heavy cutting and raking machinery that go through their field.
Range: (May - September) Red areas in North America indicate the Bobolink's summer residency into Canada with the balance of the year (Oct.-April) spent from Peru and Bolivia down to the northern coast of Argentina. |
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