Content deleted Content added
Canada is part of North America, edited text to better reflect range |
m →External links: HTTP to HTTPS for Cornell University |
||
| (76 intermediate revisions by 50 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Pleistocene|present}}
| image = 20250702 adult male bobolink glastonbury meadows squre PD206841.jpg
| image_caption = Adult male
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |
| genus = Dolichonyx
| parent_authority = [[William
| species = oryzivorus
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
Line 17:
}}
The '''bobolink''' ('''''Dolichonyx oryzivorus''''') is a small [[icterid|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
==Taxonomy==
The bobolink was [[Species description|formally described]] in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]''. He placed it with the finches in the [[genus]] ''[[Fringilla]]'' and coined the [[binomial name]] ''Fringilla oryzivora''.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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''.<ref>{{ 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 }}</ref> Linnaeus specified the [[type locality (biology)|type locality]] as "Cuba ... in Carolinam" but this was restricted to the state of [[South Carolina]] by the [[American Ornithologists' Union]] in 1931.<ref>{{ 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 }}</ref><ref>{{ 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 }}</ref> The bobolink is now the only species placed in the [[genus]] ''Dolichonyx'' that was introduced in 1827 by the English zoologist [[William Swainson]].<ref>{{ 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 }}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{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 }}</ref> The genus name combines the [[Ancient Greek]] δολιχος/''dolikhos'' meaning "long" with ονυξ/''onux'', ονυχος/''onukhos'' meaning "claw" or "nail".<ref>{{ 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 }}</ref> The specific epithet ''oryzivorus'' combines the [[Latin]] ''oryza'' meaning "rice" with ''-vorus'' meaning "eating".<ref>{{ 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 }}</ref> The English name "bobolink" is from Bob o' Lincoln, describing the call.<ref name=OED>{{Cite OED | Bobolink}}</ref> The species is considered to be [[monotypic]]: no [[subspecies]] are recognised.<ref name=ioc/><ref>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: <nowiki>https://birdsna.org/Species-</nowiki> Account/bna/species/boboli DOI: 10.2173/bna.176; Archived in DUNE: DigitalUNE: http://dune.une.edu/env_facpubs/26/</ref>
==Description==
'''Measurements''':<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bobolink Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology|url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bobolink/id|access-date=2020-09-30|website=www.allaboutbirds.org|language=en|archive-date=2020-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927134700/https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bobolink/id|url-status=live}}</ref>
* '''Length''': {{convert|5.9|-|8.3
* '''Weight''': {{convert|1.0|-|2.0
* '''Wingspan''': {{convert|10.6
Adults
[[File:Bobolink Point Pelee (
==Distribution and movements==
The bobolink breeds in the summer in North America across much of southern Canada and the northern United States;<ref name=eol/> from 1966
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]]
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 Coast of the United States|Gulf States]] during their southward migration in the fall.<ref name="NewJersey1892">{{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}}</ref><ref name=Chapman1909/><ref name=eolcommon>{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Chapman1909>{{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}}</ref><ref name=eolcommon/>
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.<ref name="bioone.org">{{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}}</ref> A bobolink was collected in the Galápagos Islands by Charles Darwin in 1835.<ref>Darwin, C. R. 1963. Darwin’s ornithological notes (Nora Barlow, Editor). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Historical Series 2:201–278.</ref> Bobolinks have been hypothesized to act as vectors for avian malaria-causing parasites arriving in the Islands.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="bioone.org"/>
==Behaviour==
===Breeding===
Bobolinks historically nested in tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies of the [[Great Plains]] of the United States and Canada.<ref name=":0">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</ref> Since the development of these habitats, modern breeding habitats includes open grassy fields, especially [[hay]] fields, across the northern half of [[North America]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>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.</ref> In high-quality habitats, males are often [[Polygyny in animals|polygynous]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> Females construct their cup-shaped ground nests alone, and lay three to seven [[Bird egg|eggs]].<ref name=":0" /> Both parents feed the young, with polygynous males providing food to multiple nests.<ref name=":0" /><ref>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.</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>
===Feeding===
Bobolinks forage on or near the ground
===Calls===
Males have two song types, which they will sing both alone and together to make compound songs.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{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}}</ref> Males sing both while perching and in flight, but compound songs are more likely during flight.<ref>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.</ref><ref name=":1" /> 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."<ref>{{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}}</ref>
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.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Martin, S. G. (1967). Breeding biology of the Bobolink. Master's Thesis, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison.</ref>
==Status and conservation==
During the 1800s the bobolink, like many birds, was slaughtered in large numbers for the meat trade.<ref name="borlaug1971">{{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)}}</ref>{{rp|page=41}}
The numbers of these birds are declining due to loss of [[habitat (ecology)|habitat]]. Bobolinks are a species at risk in Nova Scotia,<ref name="nsfa-fane.ca">{{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}}</ref> and throughout Canada.<ref>{{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}}</ref> In [[Vermont]], a 75% decline was noted between 1966 and 2007.<ref name="bfp100625">{{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}}</ref> Originally, they were found in tall grass [[prairie]] and other open areas with dense grass. Although hay fields are suitable nesting habitat, 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%.<ref name="nsfa-fane.ca"/> This species increased in numbers when [[horse]]s were the primary mode of transportation, requiring larger supplies of hay.▼
▲The numbers of these birds are declining due to [[loss of
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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
==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."<ref>{{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}}</ref>
The bobolink is mentioned in the song
<blockquote><poem>Evelina, won't ya ever take a shine to that moon?
Evelina, ain't ya bothered by the Bobolink's tune?</poem></blockquote>
The bird is also one of the many important ornithological references in the poem "[[
[[Sophie Jewett]] ends her poem "An Exile's Garden" (1910) with a reference to a bobolink.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>
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.
Baseball partners [[Robert Leadley]] and [[Bob Glenalvin]] purchased the [[Western League (1885–1899)]] [[Grand Rapids (baseball)]] franchise from George E. Ellis in 1897 and renamed it...the Bob-o-links.
The bobolink is also mentioned in the musical ''[[Camelot (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==
Line 75 ⟶ 87:
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
File:20250627 bobolink glastonbury meadows PD205842.jpg|Juvenile. Connecticut, USA
</gallery>
Line 83 ⟶ 99:
{{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 }}
*[
*[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
Line 90 ⟶ 106:
* {{VIREO|Bobolink|Bobolink}}
{{Passeroidea|I.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q591831}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Icteridae]]
[[Category:Birds of North America]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Birds described in 1758]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Extant Pleistocene first appearances]]
| |||