Bobolink
Dolichonyx oryzivorus
Habitat
Ground
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
31 g
About This Species
Breeds in tall grass hayfields and prairies of the northern US and southern Canada, where males deliver a bubbling, mechanical song from a swaying perch during display flights. Listen for this song in late spring and early summer, and look for the male's striking black-and-buff-yellow breeding plumage. It migrates in flocks to South American grasslands for the winter, when both sexes take on a plainer, sparrow-like appearance.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Stay on trails or field edges rather than walking into hayfields during the breeding season, since nests are on the ground and easily trampled or exposed to predators.
- It is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the US and Canada and under similar migratory bird laws across its South American wintering range, so disturbing nests or flushing birds should be avoided.
- A distance of 20-30 metres with binoculars is normally sufficient for good views without pressuring breeding birds.
LCAvesPasseriformesIcteridae
Seasonal Activity
823,173 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Icteridae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 31 g
Photo
(c) Fyn Kynd, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Fyn Kynd
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.