![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BobolinkMaleBackHeadClawsonNaturalCrooksDotCom.jpg\")
<\/a>\nLook at the feet!<\/em><\/p>\n
You have to wonder if female Bobolinks find this impressive or if they just roll their eyes and accept it as a \u201cboys will be boys\u201d thing. Either way it\u2019s a good thing that female Bobolinks still match up because as a whole the Bobolink population has, unfortunately, been dropping.<\/p>\n
Where Do Bobolinks Hang Out?<\/h2>\n
When I was younger and fitter, I would sometimes bike out to Lemoine\u2019s Point near Kingston, Ontario. (It was in the Township then.) Near the one entrance, I would often see Bobolinks on the fence posts and shrubs near a big unmowed hayfield at the end of Front Road. (Looking back in time, I guess it may have been a field adjacent to the airport, not a farm field.)<\/p>\n
I am pleased to see, by checking eBird.org that there are still Bobolinks out that way.<\/p>\n So I read up a bit on Bobolinks at AllAboutBirds<\/strong><\/a> and confirmed that they like tall grassy fields to feed in. They also nest on the ground among the unmowed vegetation.<\/p>\n Unmowed fields are not that common in the major metropolis I live in, so I recently went out to Bronte Creek Provincial Park to look for these black and white birds. There they have a breeding population who are enjoying a meadow full of grasses and clovers.<\/p>\n The male Bobolinks I watched were calling steadily on this sunny afternoon in mid-June. They often perched briefly on shrubs and deadfalls at the edge of the field.<\/p>\n You could see and hear the fierce competition among the males: they would chase each other off of perches and fly after each other around the field.<\/p>\n When one female flew briefly up from the cover of the grasses, she was quickly chased by two eager males.<\/p>\n It seemed like the males had preferred territories as one, for example, would return to sing at the same stunted tree at the field edge every five to ten minutes. I must admit I can\u2019t be sure if it was the same male or not, though.<\/p>\n According to the Cornell website, although males do help feed chicks, Bobolinks do not form pairs. The eggs in one clutch will have more than one father, and eggs in different nests will have the same father. Given the dropping populations in some areas, this may be a good thing, though, as it could increase the genetic diversity of the next generation.<\/p>\n The Bobolink males would also drop down into the field to feed between bouts of singing and chasing. They are surprisingly difficult to see in the grasses despite their vivid colouring. They eat insects and spiders as well as seeds.<\/p>\n I enjoyed watching these oddly marked male birds and I wish I had a better look at the females. I guess I\u2019ll have to go back and see if they become more visible once the youngsters are starting to fly.<\/p>\n Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThis male is singing and the shape of his mouth interested me.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nFrom the front, the male Bobolink can look entirely black.<\/em><\/p>\nDo Bobolinks Pair Up Like Cardinals or Set Up a Territory Like Red Winged Blackbirds?<\/h2>\n
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\nI should have used a faster shutterspeed: they really fly!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThis male was singing regularly from a grape-vine covered stunted spruce tree.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
\nI still think the sliding off cap looks silly….<\/em><\/p>\n