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Difference between revisions of "Blue Grosbeak" - BirdForum Opus

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[[Image:Blue-Grosbeak.jpg|thumb|500px|right|Male<br />Photo by {{user|P.+wilkinson|P. wilkinson}}<br />[[South Carolina]], [[USA]], May 2007]]
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[[Image:Blue-Grosbeak.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Male<br />Photo by {{user|P.+wilkinson|P. wilkinson}}<br />[[South Carolina]], [[USA]], May 2007]]
 
;[[:Category:Passerina|Passerina]] caerulea
 
;[[:Category:Passerina|Passerina]] caerulea
 
Formerly - ''Guiraca caerulea''
 
Formerly - ''Guiraca caerulea''
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Similar to female, but 1st winter birds are more rufous.
 
Similar to female, but 1st winter birds are more rufous.
 
====Similar Species====
 
====Similar Species====
This large Cardinaline Bunting is often mistaken for an [[Indigo Bunting]], which does not have the rusty 'shoulders' seen as wing bars in flight, or the large beak as indicated by the name: grosbeak. Females are buffy brown with rusty colored median coverts.
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[[Image:Fem Blue Grosbeak.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Female<br/>Photo by {{user|bobsofpa|bobsofpa}}<br />[[Cape May|Cape May NWR]], [[New Jersey]], [[USA]], Sept. 2008]]
[[Image:Fem Blue Grosbeak.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Female<br/>Photo by {{user|bobsofpa|bobsofpa}}<br />[[Cape May|Cape May NWR]], [[New Jersey]], [[USA]], Sept. 2008]]
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This large Cardinaline Bunting is often mistaken for an [[Indigo Bunting]], which does not have the rusty 'shoulders' seen as wing bars in flight, or the large beak as indicated by the name: grosbeak.
 +
 
 
==Distribution==
 
==Distribution==
 
Southern [[United States]] north to central [[California]], [[South Dakota]], southern [[Pennsylvania]] and southern [[New Jersey]]. Casual north of regular range. Winters south to [[Panama]].  
 
Southern [[United States]] north to central [[California]], [[South Dakota]], southern [[Pennsylvania]] and southern [[New Jersey]]. Casual north of regular range. Winters south to [[Panama]].  
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This species has in the past been placed in genus ''[[:Category:Guiraca|Guiraca]]''
 
This species has in the past been placed in genus ''[[:Category:Guiraca|Guiraca]]''
 
====Subspecies====
 
====Subspecies====
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[[Image:BLUE-GROSBEAK-POST.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Male<br />Photo by {{user|digishooter|digishooter}}<br />Kern Co. [[California]], [[USA]], June 2017]]
 
This is a [[Dictionary_P-S#P|polytypic]] species<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup> consisting of 7 subspecies.
 
This is a [[Dictionary_P-S#P|polytypic]] species<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup> consisting of 7 subspecies.
 
*''P. c. salicaria'': Grinnell, 1911
 
*''P. c. salicaria'': Grinnell, 1911
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Blue Grosbeak nests are sometimes parasitized by [[Brown-headed Cowbird]]s.  
 
Blue Grosbeak nests are sometimes parasitized by [[Brown-headed Cowbird]]s.  
 
==References==
 
==References==
#{{Ref-Clements6thAug11}}#[http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=726198 ITIS]
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#{{Ref-Clements6thAug16}}#[http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=726198 ITIS]
 
{{ref}}
 
{{ref}}
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==

Revision as of 22:28, 18 June 2017

Male
Photo by P. wilkinson
South Carolina, USA, May 2007
Passerina caerulea

Formerly - Guiraca caerulea

Identification

L. 6 3/4" (17 cm)
Male:

  • Dark blue
  • Rusty wing bars
  • Large beak
  • Black face

Female:

  • Buffy brown
  • Rusty wing-bars

Immature Similar to female, but 1st winter birds are more rufous.

Similar Species

Female
Photo by bobsofpa
Cape May NWR, New Jersey, USA, Sept. 2008

This large Cardinaline Bunting is often mistaken for an Indigo Bunting, which does not have the rusty 'shoulders' seen as wing bars in flight, or the large beak as indicated by the name: grosbeak.

Distribution

Southern United States north to central California, South Dakota, southern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Casual north of regular range. Winters south to Panama.

Taxonomy

This species has in the past been placed in genus Guiraca

Subspecies

Male
Photo by digishooter
Kern Co. California, USA, June 2017

This is a polytypic species[1] consisting of 7 subspecies.

  • P. c. salicaria: Grinnell, 1911
  • North-central [[California and western Nevada to north-western Baja; winters to Guerrero
  • P. c. interfusa: Dwight & Griscom, 1927
  • South-western US to north-eastern Baja and north-western Mexico; winters to Honduras
  • P. c. deltarhyncha: Van Rossem, 1938
  • Coastal western Mexico (southern Sinaloa and Durango to Oaxaca)
  • P. c. caerulea: Linnaeus, 1758
  • P. c. eurhyncha: Coues, 1874
  • Eastern Mexico (Coahuila to Nuevo León, southern Tamaulipas and Oaxaca)
  • P. c. chiapensis: Nelson, 1898
  • P. c. lazula: Lesson, 1842

Habitat

Shrubby fields, open habitat with scattered trees, scrub, thickets, cultivated lands, woodland edges, overgrown fields, hedgerows.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes insects, snails, spiders, seeds, grains, and fruits. Its large bill can manage large seeds, like corn, and large insects like grasshoppers.

Breeding

The nest is built low in small trees and shrubs. It is a compact cup of bark, rootlets, twigs, and other fibrous material. The clutch consists of 3-5 pale blue eggs; incubation takes 11-12 days, followed by fledging at 9-10 days.

Blue Grosbeak nests are sometimes parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. ITIS

Recommended Citation

External Links


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