BLUE BIRDS SEEN IN NORTH AMERICA

Blue Grosbeak

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Passerina Caerulea

Blue Grosbeak

Males are almost entirely deep blue, with a tiny black mask in front of the eyes, chestnut wingbars and a black and silver beak.

Females have a rich cinnamon-brown overall, the color is richer on the head and paler on the underparts. Their tails are bluish.

Both sexes are distinguished by their large, deep bill and double wing bars. The upper is chestnut and the lower is grayish to buffy.

Juveniles tend to have a rich, dark chestnut brown, with chestnut wingbars.

BILL: black and silver, cone-shaped.

SIZE: measures about 5.5 - 7.5 inches, with a wingspan of 10 - 11 inches.

WEIGHT: weighs about 26 - 31 grams.

COLOR: blue, black, chestnut, silver, cinnamon-brown, gray and buff.

Insects, grasshoppers, beetles, cicadas, and mantises; seeds of grasses and rice, snails and spiders.

Woodland edges, hedgerows, bushy fields, roadsides, and streamside thickets.

BREEDS: California throughout the Central United States, northwards to North Dakota to northern New Jersey, and also in Mexico and Central America, where they are resident all year round.

WINTER: Mexico to Panama, sometimes in South America.

CALL: An explosive “spink” and a high rolling “preet”.

SONG: A short series of rich warbler phrases rising and falling.

NEST: The female builds a compact, cup-shaped nest made of twigs, bark strips, rootlets, cotton, rags, newspaper, string cellophane, snakeskin, dead leaves, or other materials. It is concealed in a clump of weeds or situated low in shrubs or small trees.

EGGS: 3 - 5 pale blue eggs.

INCUBATION: 11 - 12 days, by female fed by the male.

NESTLING PHASE: 9 - 10 days.