#dolichonyx oryzivorus

[unrestrained-balderdash-art-blog]

Had to turn the Bobolink into the Ace Pride flag >:)

Reference photo by Andrew Weitzel

[birdblues]

Bobolink

[proton-wobbler]

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)

"males look like they are wearing little toupees. just very sweet birds overall, unlike some of their cousins (AHEM red-winged blackbird) and i love their songs!"

The Bobolink is the only member of its genus. Which makes sense, because they do some weird things with their molt. Typically songbirds with "breeding plumage" undergo two molts a year, with the winter-into-spring molt being known as an Alternate molt- to get them to that pretty, sexy, alternate plumage, and then a fall-into-winter molt known as Basic molt, into their basic plumage. Usually an alternate molt isn't super energy intensive and only swaps out, say, the feathers of the head or wings to really freshen up a male for the breeding season. Bobolink said "nah we can do better", and have a 100% complete alternate molt. This means they lose all of their feathers Twice A Year, all in the name of being sexy. Big props, my guy.

Oh and their song sounds like a blackbird forgot how to sing halfway through and just started throwing out notes to see what stuck. They're incredible.

I would really recommend reading into their life history more through the sources below. I could go on and on about them but sadly this is supposed to be just a small blurb in their honor.

Sources:

Image Sources: eBird (male - Brad Imhoff); (female/non-breeding male - Nicole Desnoyers)

Molt info comes from Peter Pyle's "Identification Guide to North American Birds (Pt 1)", which is all technical jargon and also not online.

[birdirectory]

bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) by Constantino Melo

[atamagaitai]

bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) by Denis Doucet

[herpsandbirds]

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), male, family Icteridae, order Passeriformes, ONT, Canada

photograph by Jacob Schumann

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[1556/10977] Bobolink - Dolichonyx oryzivorus

Order: Passeriformes Suborder: Passeri Superfamily: Emberizoidea Family: Icteridae (icterids)

Photo credit: Yannick Fleury via Macaulay Library

[untoxicated]

Frequenting cultivated rice fields for food in the winter in South America, the Bobolink was once known as the Rice Bird. In fact, its scientific name still refers to this, translating roughly to "Long-toed rice eater."

Bobolinks are primarily granivorous, with seeds making up the majority of their diets. In the summers of North America they can be found in mixed-grass, post-disturbance prairies. They are often best identified by their bubbly, metallic song and calls!

The long migrations undertaken by these birds every year from one hemisphere to the other, means that they're essentially living in an endless summer. When it starts to get cooler in one hemisphere, they migrate to the other. This exposes their feathers to lots of sunlight, which can cause them to wear and degrade, so Bobolinks are one of two North American birds that molt all of their feathers twice per year!

Bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivorus, Markham, May 22 2023

[bestbackroads]

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) May 2023 NY & VT US #bobolink #bestbackroad #bestbackroads #natgeoyourshots #natgeo100contest #natgeo #rutlandcountyvt #washingtoncountyny #whitehallny #wildphotography #naturephotography #adventurephotography #wildlifephotography — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/gQol15K

[writer59january13]

Stranded in bittercold without food or drink...

Though the following

twittering scenario quite absurd, methought diehard adherents of mine

(intimation also quite far-fetched),

some unnamed readers insomnia nevertheless could benefit courtesy

a thought provoking tweet

east of Eden heard.

Dire straits necessitated yours truly to be atypical and think outside the box (literally outdoors of squarish structured nested dwelling), where blinding albedo effect forced me to blink, additionally also ruffled tail feathers of this sole surviving male bobolink (North American songbird, Dolichonyx oryzivorus)

pushing survival species to extinction brink, thus series of unfortunate events woke resident chewink (North American bird, Pipilo erythrophthalmus also called: towhee or ground-robin), tweeted from within his cozy armoire chink

polar vortex froze habitat, whereby arctic wind found brushy areas to clink unwittingly brambles ferocious waving circular rotation wrought minuscule countersink eh, no bigger than a cufflink his ornate bejeweled complex edifice compliments of sizable income allowed, enabled, and provided

opportunity in tandem with significant other to create acronym named DINK (dual income no kid) acquiring handsome combined income rendering and selling stylized goldfinch also known as distelfink common motif in hex signs and fraktur, which interpretive native folk art

eye state meaningless without rhyme nor reason, superfluous gibberish by George, and/or...well... courtesy following purposeless gobbledygook defying poetaster to incorporate doublethink intelligently nsync with downlink playfully, jauntily, and deliberately creating confounding badinage eye wink at thee, no doubt many

an anonymous innocent reader calling me rat fink (Ed “Big Daddy” Roth's child) under their breath or more colorful brutal appellation inducing cheeks of unknown followers turning fifty plus shades of firepink moost definitely concurring gink perfectly apropos description concluded individually versus

collectively, quickly, and unanimously i.e. (think) groupthink I approve this entire message, which most likely tinders pet peeve, concluding GoDaddy

go tell Aunt Rhody

yours wittily, truly,

quirkily, nervously, jokingly

attempted to hoodwink.

[geopsych]

I have more pictures of beauty from the last two days but I’m pausing to show you this unassuming individual which was one of the high points of the weekend: a bobolink! Best picture I could manage. I know they’re common elsewhere but I never see them at all where I live and only rarely do I see them even out where I was taking pictures today. Seen along the stretch of road where I also see meadowlarks and kestrels, in fact a meadowlark landed within feet of this spot shortly after this one flew off. I’m thrilled to know they’re nesting out there this summer!

[unrestrained-balderdash-art-blog]

Migratory May day 26: Bobolink

Reference photo by Andrew Weitzel

[birds-that-screm]

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)

© Ryan Shaw

[is-that-bird--you-know]

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)

© Ryan Shaw

[tuxedo-birds]

Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)

© Ryan Shaw

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Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)

© Phil Hyde