 The bobolink is a songbird of the American blackbird family. It nests in grassy fields of the northern United States and southern Canada, east of the Rocky Mountains, and migrates to Argentina. Its name is derived from one of its melodious songs. The bird is about 18 cm (7 in) long. In winter both sexes are buff-brown, with buff and black stripes, but in the breeding season the male has a mainly black body with white shoulders and rump and a yellowish nape. The rough nest of grass and weeds is placed on the ground. The bobolink is also called the reedbird--and sometimes ricebird, because it settled on rice fields that used to lie along its migratory path in the southern United States and fed on them, sometimes doing serious damage. The bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivorus, is classified in the family Icteridae, order Passeriformes. |
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