A bright blue songbird with chestnut wing bars and a massive silver bill. Sometimes confused with smaller indigo buntings but distinctly larger and shaped.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
The blue grosbeak is a medium-sized North American passerine bird in the cardinal family Cardinalidae. It is mainly migratory, wintering in Central America and breeding in northern Mexico and the southern United States. The male is blue with two brown wing bars. The female is mainly brown with scattered blue feathers on the upperparts and two brown wing bars.
Source: Wikipedia — Blue grosbeak Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Male deep cobalt-blue with two rusty wing bars and a heavy silver bill; female warm cinnamon-brown with the same wing bars. Larger and bigger-billed than a bunting.
Similar species. Indigo Bunting male is smaller, all-blue, and lacks the rusty wing bars; the heavy bill and rusty wing bars mark the Blue Grosbeak.
Voice. A rich, warbling, up-and-down song; call a loud, metallic 'chink'.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Seeds, insects, fruits.
Behavior. A large bunting-relative of brushy fields and woodland edges; forages on the ground and low in shrubs for insects and seeds, twitching and spreading its tail.
§ Range
Southern and central US in summer; winters in Central America
§ Habitat
Brushy edges, hedgerows, weedy fields
§ Threats
Habitat loss to clean-farming, garden monocultures.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the blue grosbeak is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Maintain brushy field corners. Don't mow until late summer. Skip pesticides.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Blue grosbeak
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Passerina caerulea
- IUCN Red List — search for Passerina caerulea
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Passerina caerulea
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
