Bobolink
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Bobolink
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Pleistocene|present}}
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| image = Bobolink (27239680521) (cropped).jpg
| image_caption = Adult male
| genus = Dolichonyx
| parent_authority = Swainson, 1827
| species = oryzivorus
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| range_map = Dolichonyx oryzivorus.svg
| range_map_caption = Approximate distribution. {{leftlegend|#2C5AA0|Breeding range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#D45500|Non-breeding range|outline=gray}}
| synonyms = *Fringilla oryzivora {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}}
- Emberiza oryzivora {{small|Linnaeus, 1766}}
}}
The bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) is a small New World blackbird and the only member of the genus Dolichonyx. An old name for this species is the "rice bird", from its tendency to feed on cultivated grains during winter and migration. The bobolink breeds in the summer in the United States and Canada, with most of the summer range in the northern U.S. Bobolinks winter in southern South America, primarily Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia. Bobolink numbers are rapidly declining due to factors such as agricultural intensification and habitat loss; they are considered threatened in Canada, and are at risk throughout their range.
Taxonomy
The bobolink was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the finches in the genus Fringilla and coined the binomial name Fringilla oryzivora.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=179 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727086 }} Linnaeus mainly based his account on "The Rice-Bird" that had been described and illustrated in 1729 by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands.{{ cite book | last=Catesby | first=Mark | author-link=Mark Catesby | year=1729–1732 | title=The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands | volume=1 | location=London | publisher=W. Innys and R. Manby | language=English, French | page=14, Plate 14 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40753158 }} Published in 11 parts. For the dates see: {{ cite journal | last=Overstreet | first=Leslie K. | date=2014 | title=The dates of the parts of Mark Catesby's The Natural History of Carolina ... (London, 1731–1743 [1729–1747]) | journal=Archives of Natural History | volume=41 | issue=2 | pages=362–364 | doi=10.3366/anh.2014.0256 }} Linnaeus specified the type locality as "Cuba ... in Carolinam" but this was restricted to the state of South Carolina by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1931.{{ cite book | editor-last=Paynter | editor-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1968 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=14 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | pages=201–202 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14481402 }}{{ cite book | author=Committee on Classification and Nomenclature| year=1931 | title=Check-list of North American Birds | edition=4th | location=Lancaster, Pennsylvania | publisher=American Ornithologists' Union | page=301 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/5824091 }} The bobolink is now the only species placed in the genus Dolichonyx that was introduced in 1827 by the English zoologist William Swainson.{{ cite journal | last=Swainson | first=William | author-link=William Swainson | year=1827 | title=A synopsis of the birds discovered in Mexico by W. Bullock, F.L.S. and Mr. William Bullock jun. | journal=Philosophical Magazine | series=New Series | volume=1 | pages=364–369, 433–442 [435] | doi=10.1080/14786442708674330 | url=https://zenodo.org/records/2262785/files/article.pdf }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Oropendolas, orioles, blackbirds | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/blackbirds/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=22 February 2025 }} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek δολιχος/dolikhos meaning "long" with ονυξ/onux, ονυχος/onukhos meaning "claw" or "nail".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=Dolichonyx | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Dolichonyx | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=22 February 2025 }} The specific epithet oryzivorus combines the Latin oryza meaning "rice" with -vorus meaning "eating".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=oryzivorus | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=oryzivorus | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=22 February 2025 }} The English name "bobolink" is from Bob o' Lincoln, describing the call.{{Cite OED | Bobolink}} The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.Renfrew, Rosalind, Allan M. Strong, Noah G. Perlut, Stephen G. Martin and Thomas A. Gavin. (2015). Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from The Birds of North America:
Description
- Length: {{convert|5.9|-|8.3|in|cm|abbr=on}}
- Weight: {{convert|1.0|-|2.0|oz|g|abbr=on}}
- Wingspan: {{convert|10.6|in|cm}}
Adults are {{convert|16|–|18|cm|in|abbr=on}} long with short finch-like bills and weigh about {{convert|1|oz|g|abbr=on|order=flip}}. Adult males are mostly black with creamy napes and white scapulars, lower backs, and rumps. Adult females are mostly light brown with black streaks on the back and flanks, and dark stripes on the head; their wings and tails are darker.
Distribution and movements
The bobolink breeds in the summer in North America across much of southern Canada and the northern United States; from 1966 to 2015 the species experienced a greater than 1.5% annual population decrease throughout most of its breeding range, extending from the Midwestern United States to the Canadian Maritimes.{{cite web |title=Bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus BBS Trend Map, 1966 - 2015 |url=https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/tr2015/trend2015_v3.html |website=USGS |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |access-date=2020-12-15 |archive-date=2019-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830134956/https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/tr2015/trend2015_v3.html |url-status=live }} The bobolink migrates long distances, wintering in southern South America.{{cite encyclopedia | title=Bobolink – Dolichonyx oryzivorus – Overview | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Life | url=http://eol.org/pages/1051993/overview | access-date=14 December 2013 | archive-date=18 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218175532/http://eol.org/pages/1051993/overview | url-status=live }} One bird was tracked migrating {{convert|12000|mi|km|abbr=on}} over the course of the year, often flying long distances up to {{convert|1100|mi|km|abbr=on}} in a single day, then stopping to recuperate for days or weeks.{{cite news| title=Vermont scientists paint detailed picture of bobolink migration | work=Burlington Free Press | publisher=Gannett | date=1 April 2011 | last=Page | first=Candace | url=http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100625/NEWS02/104010006/ | archive-url=https://archive.today/20131214102950/http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100625/NEWS02/104010006/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=14 December 2013 | access-date=14 December 2013}}
Bobolinks often migrate in flocks, feeding on cultivated grains and rice, which leads to them being considered a pest by farmers in some areas. Although bobolinks migrate long distances, they have rarely been sighted in Europe — like many vagrants from the Americas, the majority of records are from the British Isles.{{cite web |title=Bobolink in Lincolnshire |url=https://www.birdguides.com/sightings/dolichonyx-oryzivorus/3400637# |website=BirdGuides |publisher=Warners Group Publications Plc |access-date=2020-12-15 |archive-date=2022-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126050647/https://www.birdguides.com/sightings/dolichonyx-oryzivorus/3400637 |url-status=live }}
The species has been known in the southern United States as the "reedbird," or the "ricebird" from their consumption of large amounts of the grain from rice fields in South Carolina and the Gulf States during their southward migration in the fall.{{cite book|author=New Jersey. Board of Agriculture|title=State of New Jersey: Nineteenth Annual Report of the State Board of Agriculture, 1891–92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTsLAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA156|access-date=14 December 2013|year=1892|publisher=New Jersey State Board of Agriculture|location=Trenton, NJ|page=156|archive-date=7 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107202746/http://books.google.com/books?id=pTsLAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA156|url-status=live}}{{cite encyclopedia | title=Common Names for Bobolink (Dolchonyx oryzivorus) | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Life | url=http://eol.org/pages/1051993/names/common_names | access-date=14 December 2013 | archive-date=18 December 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218175536/http://eol.org/pages/1051993/names/common_names | url-status=live }} One of the species' main migration routes is through Jamaica, where they are called "butter-birds" and at least historically were collected as food, having fattened up on the aforementioned rice.{{cite book|editor=Chapman, Frank M.|others=Wright, Mabel Osgood; Dutcher, William|title=Bird-lore: An Illustrated Bi-monthly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lkoQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA372|access-date=14 December 2013|volume=11|year=1909|publisher=The Macmillan Company|pages=372–376|archive-date=7 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107202802/http://books.google.com/books?id=lkoQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA372|url-status=live}}
Bobolinks are the only species of land bird known to annually migrate through the Galápagos Islands, which are over 2,000 km from their primary migration route.{{Cite journal|url=https://bioone.org/journals/the-wilson-journal-of-ornithology/volume-128/issue-4/15-195.1/Stopover-on-Galapagos-During-Autumn-Migration-of-Bobolinks-Dolichonyx-oryzivorus/10.1676/15-195.1.short|doi = 10.1676/15-195.1|title = Stopover on Galapagos During Autumn Migration of Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)|year = 2016|last1 = Perlut|first1 = Noah G.|last2 = Renfrew|first2 = Rosalind|journal = The Wilson Journal of Ornithology|volume = 128|issue = 4|pages = 935–938|s2cid = 90886243|url-access = subscription}} A bobolink was collected in the Galápagos Islands by Charles Darwin in 1835.Darwin, C. R. 1963. Darwin’s ornithological notes (Nora Barlow, Editor). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Historical Series 2:201–278. Bobolinks have been hypothesized to act as vectors for avian malaria-causing parasites arriving in the Islands.{{Cite journal|pmc = 6032038|year = 2018|last1 = Perlut|first1 = N. G.|last2 = Parker|first2 = P. G.|last3 = Renfrew|first3 = R. B.|last4 = Jaramillo|first4 = M.|title = Haemosporidian parasite community in migrating bobolinks on the Galapagos Islands|journal = International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife|volume = 7|issue = 2|pages = 204–206|doi = 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.05.006|pmid = 29988782| bibcode=2018IJPPW...7..204P }} Additionally, bobolinks in the Galápagos have been found with seeds from Drymaria cordata, a plant native to the Galápagos but highly invasive elsewhere, entangled in their feathers, potentially spreading them to the mainland.
Behaviour
=Breeding=
Bobolinks historically nested in tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies of the Great Plains of the United States and Canada.Renfrew, R., A. M. Strong, N. G. Perlut, S. G. Martin, and T. A. Gavin (2020). Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.boboli.01 Since the development of these habitats, modern breeding habitats includes open grassy fields, especially hay fields, across the northern half of North America.Bollinger, E. K. and T. A. Gavin. (1992). "Eastern Bobolink populations: ecology and conservation in an agricultural landscape." In: Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds., eds. J. M. Hagan and D. W. Johnston, 497-506. Washington, D.C: Smithson. Inst. Press. In high-quality habitats, males are often polygynous.{{Cite journal |last=Martin |first=Stephen G. |date=1971 |title=Polygyny in the bobolink: habitat quality and the adaptive complex |journal=Oregon State University Theses & Dissertations |pages=1-181}} Females construct their cup-shaped ground nests alone, and lay three to seven eggs. Both parents feed the young, with polygynous males providing food to multiple nests.Wootton, J. T., E. K. Bollinger and C. J. Hibbard. (1986). Mating systems in homogeneous habitats: the effects of female uncertainty, knowledge costs, and random settlement. American Naturalist 128:499-512.{{Cite journal |last=Wittenberger |first=J.F. |date=1982 |title=Factors affecting how male and female bobolinks apportion parental investments |journal=Condor |volume=84 |pages=22-39}}
=Feeding=
Bobolinks forage on or near the ground and mainly eat seeds and insects. They are nicknamed the "{{visible anchor|armyworm bird}}" because of their predation on large numbers of armyworms,{{rp|page=453}} including the true armyworm (Mythimna unipuncta) and the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda),{{cite web | last=Capinera | first=John L. | title=armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta (Haworth) (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) | publisher=University of Florida Entomology Department | date=December 2018 | url=http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/field/true_armyworm.htm | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213223255/http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/field/true_armyworm.htm | archive-date=2017-12-13}} acting as a natural pest control.{{cite book | last=Capinera | first=John | title=Handbook of Vegetable Pests | publisher=Academic Press | publication-place=London, UK; San Diego, Ca, US | year=2020 | isbn=978-0-12-814488-6 | oclc=1152284558 | edition=2 | id={{ISBN|9780128144893}} | pages=xv+799}}{{rp|page=453}} In Florida, bobolinks feed most often on the Fall armyworm rather than the True armyworm, as the former is more common in the region.
=Calls=
Males have two song types, which they will sing both alone and together to make compound songs.{{Cite journal |last=Avery |first=M. |last2=Oring |first2=L.W. |date=1977 |title=Song dialects in the bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) |journal=Condor |volume=79 |pages=113-118}} Males sing both while perching and in flight, but compound songs are more likely during flight.Bakker, A., K. Withrow and N. S. Thompson. (1983). Levels of organization in the song of the Bobolink (Icteridae: Dolichonyginae). Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 62:105-114. The song of the male bobolink is difficult to convey phonetically, with Arthur Bent writing:
"No description of the song of the bobolink is adequate to convey to the reader who has not heard it any appreciation of its beauty and vivacity. It is unique among bird songs, the despair of the recorder or the imitator; even the famed mockingbird cannot reproduce it. It is a bubbling delirium of ecstatic music that flows from the gifted throat of the bird like sparkling champagne."{{Cite book |last=Bent |first=Arthur C. |title=Life Histories of North American Blackbirds, Orioles, Tanagers, and Allies |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |year=1958 |edition=Bulletin 211 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=44}}
Nine additional call notes have been described, several of which are unique to female bobolinks, including a whining solicitation call and a "quipt" defense call.Martin, S. G. (1967). Breeding biology of the Bobolink. Master's Thesis, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison.
Status and conservation
During the 1800s the bobolink, like many birds, was slaughtered in large numbers for the meat trade.{{cite speech | url=http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/19b534b8-542a-5fe3-848d-54749881925d/ | last=Borlaug | first=Norman E. | author-link=Norman Borlaug | pages=73 | series=7th McDougall Memorial Lecture | title=Mankind And Civilization At Another Crossroad | website=UN FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)}}{{rp|page=41}}
The numbers of these birds are declining due to loss of habitat. Bobolinks are a species at risk in Nova Scotia,{{cite web|url=http://www.nsfa-fane.ca/biolog/?page_id=1073|title=bw logo - Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture|access-date=2015-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717115058/http://www.nsfa-fane.ca/biolog/?page_id=1073|archive-date=2015-07-17|url-status=dead}} and throughout Canada.{{cite web|url=http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/species/speciesDetails_e.cfm?sid=1087|title=Species Profile (Bobolink) - Species at Risk Public Registry|first=Government of Canada, Environment|last=Canada|access-date=2015-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717073012/http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/species/speciesDetails_e.cfm?sid=1087|archive-date=2015-07-17|url-status=dead}} In Vermont, a 75% decline was noted between 1966 and 2007.{{Cite news|last=Page|first=Candace|date=25 June 2010|title=1,100 miles in a day|pages=1A|publisher=Burlington Free Press|location=Burlington, Vermont}} Originally, they were found in tallgrass prairie and other open areas with dense grass. Although hay fields are suitable nesting habitats, fields which are harvested early, or at multiple times, in a season may not allow sufficient time for young birds to fledge. Delaying hay harvests by just 1.5 weeks can improve bobolink survival by 20%. This species increased in numbers when horses were the primary mode of transportation, requiring larger supplies of hay.
A 2021 study found that the reintroduction of American bison across the United States was detrimental to bobolink populations, with adult populations dropping as much as 62% and juvenile populations as much as 84%. This is presumed to be due to many new bison herds being managed more as livestock than wildlife, often kept in fenced pastures and protected from predation, which encourages overgrazing, trampling, and rapid multiplying. The study also found that lighter grazing by bison did not have the same harmful effects, demonstrating that the two species could likely coexist under the right circumstances.{{cite journal|last1=Kaplan|first1=Rachel|last2=Rosamond|first2=Kristen|last3=Goded|first3=Sandra|last4=Soultan|first4=Alaaeldin|last5=Glass|first5=Alex|last6=Kim|first6=Daniel|last7=Arcilla|first7=Nico|title=Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) Declines Follow Bison (Bison bison) Reintroduction on Private Conservation Grasslands|journal=Animals|volume=11|date=10 September 2021|issue=9|page=2661|doi=10.3390/ani11092661|pmid=34573626|pmc=8471021|doi-access=free}}
Media references
Emily Dickinson penned many poems about or mentioning the bird. Edgar Allan Poe mentions the bird in "Landor's Cottage". William Cullen Bryant wrote about the bob-o'-link in his poem "Robert of Lincoln."{{Cite web|url=https://www.bartleby.com/42/747.html|title=747. Robert of Lincoln. William Cullen Bryant. 1909-14. English Poetry III: From Tennyson to Whitman. The Harvard Classics|website=www.bartleby.com|access-date=2020-02-05|archive-date=2020-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205165555/https://www.bartleby.com/42/747.html|url-status=live}}
The bobolink is mentioned in the song "Evelina" by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, from the musical Bloomer Girl:{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6srRKxaPN5EC&q=evelina+what%27s+the+use+of+watermelon+vine&pg=PA191 |title=Who Put the Rainbow in the " Wizard of Oz? ": Yip Harburg, Lyricist - Harold Meyerson, Ernest Harburg - Google Books |isbn=0472083120 |access-date=2013-05-26 |last1=Meyerson |first1=Harold |last2=Harburg |first2=Ernest |year=1995 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |archive-date=2022-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126050645/https://books.google.com/books?id=6srRKxaPN5EC&q=evelina+what%27s+the+use+of+watermelon+vine&pg=PA191 |url-status=live }}
Evelina, won't ya ever take a shine to that moon? Evelina, ain't ya bothered by the Bobolink's tune?
The bird is also one of the many important ornithological references in the poem "Pale Fire" by the fictional poet John Shade, part of Vladimir Nabokov's novel of the same name.
Sophie Jewett ends her poem "An Exile's Garden" (1910) with a reference to a bobolink.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fak-AAAAIAAJ&q=sophie%20jewett%20bob-o-link&pg=PA83 |title=The poems of Sophie Jewett - Sophie Jewett - Google Boeken |access-date=2013-05-26 |last1=Jewett |first1=Sophie |year=1910 |archive-date=2022-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126050645/https://books.google.com/books?id=fak-AAAAIAAJ&q=sophie+jewett+bob-o-link&pg=PA83 |url-status=live }}
The bobolink is also mentioned in the film The Mouse on the Moon in connection with the fictional European microstate of Grand Fenwick, where oddly the bird is apparently common.
The bobolink is also mentioned in the musical Camelot. Words by Alan Jay Lerner.
The bobolink is mentioned in the song, "The Wind," by Billy Bob Thornton, written by Warren Zevon.
Gallery
File:Bobolink (F) 02.jpg|Male, New England, United States
File:Bobolink (F) 01.jpg|Female, New England, United States
File:20210704-Bobo.jpg|alt=Males – Maine|Males – Maine
File:20180525-IMGP0027.jpg|alt=Female – Maine|Female – Maine
Bobolink singing Shawangunk (31748).jpg|Male singing in New York
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Dolichonyx oryzivorus|Bobolink}}
{{Wikispecies|Dolichonyx oryzivorus}}
- [http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/featured_photo/bird.cfm?pix=Bobolink Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center: Bobolink] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224101050/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/featured_photo/bird.cfm?pix=Bobolink |date=2013-12-24 }}
- [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Bobolink.html Bobolink] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20131109212106/http://www.nature.org/newsfeatures/specialfeatures/animals/birds/bobolink.xml The Nature Conservancy's Grassland Birds: Bobolink]
- [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i4940id.html Bobolink - Dolichonyx oryzivorus] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- {{InternetBirdCollection|bobolink-dolichonyx-oryzivorus|Bobolink}}
- {{VIREO|Bobolink|Bobolink}}
{{Passeroidea|I.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q591831}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Birds of North America
Category:Wintering birds of South America
Category:Birds described in 1758