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The male bobolink is a striking black-and-white bird with a creamy yellow cap. It’s sometimes called the skunk blackbird due to the pattern of its coloring. The bobolink’s song has been described as “a reckless song fantasia, an outbreak of pent up, irrepressible glee.” The bobolink’s song, beauty, and rarity make it a favorite among birdwatchers.
Bobolink populations have suffered because of degradation of their winter homes in South America and because historically, southern rice farmers shot them to protect their crops. Now, their biggest problem is in their breeding grounds farther north. Bobolinks like to nest in large, moist, grassy meadows. While they are raising a brood, they are voracious consumers of grasshoppers, cutworms and other insects. They also eat ragweed seeds.
Unfortunately, there are fewer meadows available for bobolinks to nest in, and the remaining fields are often mowed for hay or because owners prefer a manicured look. Farmers can get better quality hay if they mow earlier in the season, and they might also get a second crop that way. But mowing these large meadows before the bobolinks fledge their young means that the next generation of birds can be destroyed.
Meadowlarks and some sparrow species also nest in meadows and are vulnerable to early mowing. All of these birds offer ecosystem services by controlling pests. They also provide pleasure to casual and serious birdwatchers, whose visits to communities with a rich bird life may bring economic benefits.
Particularly if your mowing is for aesthetic rather than commercial purposes, please consider preserving your tall grass meadow until the birds are safely fledged, usually in mid-August.
Web Links
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s Bobolink Page
Prairie Home Companion: Smithsonian/National Zoo bobolink article
Photo, taken on June 18, 2011, courtesy of Kelly Colgan Azar via Flickr.