Identification - This bird is slightly larger than a sparrow. The male is our only songbird that is black below and mostly white above. It has a yellowish-buff patch on the back of its head and wide white streaks on its back. The rump and lower back are also white. The tail feathers are pointed.
Morsels - Bobolinks invade the rice fields of the southern United States during their southward migration. In the 1800s huge numbers of "Rice Birds", as they were known, were slaughtered as agricultural pests and used as delicacies in restaurants. Today, the Bobolink is protected from direct killing but it is losing habitat as its pampas wintering grounds in Argentina are being converted into croplands.
