page_title: Bobolink
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Bobolink / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Female Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), Lamoille, NV, USA
context_page_description: The bobolink 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. Adults are 16–18 cm long with short finch-like bills and weigh about 1 oz. 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. The bobolink breeds in the summer in North America and southern Canada, often wintering in South America. Considered a pest by some farmers, the numbers of these birds are declining and are a species at risk throughout Canada.
context_section_description: Adults are 16–18 cm (6.3–7.1 in) long with short finch-like bills. They weigh about 1 oz (28 g). Adult males are mostly black with creamy napes and white scapulars, lower backs, and rumps. Adult females are mostly light brown, although their coloring includes black streaks on the back and flanks, and dark stripes on the head; their wings and tails are darker. The collective name for a group of bobolinks is a chain.
caption: Female, Lamoille, Nevada
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