Bobolink. Yes, there is such bird and it lives and breeds in the broad valley floors of the Colville and Pend Oreille Rivers. The Bobolink winters far away in South America and returns to North America to breed. The round trip can be as long as 12,500 miles!! One of the longest migrations of any song bird on the planet. During its lifespan it will have flown far enough to circle the globe 4-5 times.
Male Bobolink. Photo courtesy the Macauley Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
The Bobolink is a member of the Icteridae family which includes all of the blackbirds, orioles and meadowlarks. They specialize eating weed seeds, insect larvae, adult insects, spiders and other arachnids.
In Northeast Washington they can be found in the valley floors of the Colville River and Pend Oreille River. It seems to favor large fields of grass, including natural areas, hay fields, and pastures. They prefer to place their nest on moist ground at the base of large non-woody plants (think of the wet meadows in our river valleys). I myself have seem them north of Deep Lake in the Leadpoint area and south of Chewelah along Newton Lane.
Bobolink songs and calls are very unique and probably the best way to locate this grassland bird. Officially described as a "metallic, bubbly, rambling song with a mixture of sharp, high notes and buzzy low pitches," I think of a Yellow-headed Blackbird that has swallowed a Song Sparrow.
Many birds have songs and calls that are almost other worldly. Locally we have some real masters of the bizarre sound. You may have thought you heard running, bubbling water, only to find out it was a a raucous flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds calling.
Photo Courtesy of the Macauley Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Listen to their Flock Calls here:
Brown-headed Cowbirds sounds
Many years ago while working in the woods on the backside of Dominion Mt. I found myself temporarily disoriented (not lost, mind you) in dense timber and thick fog. That's when the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up. A sound from the Twilight Zone surrounded me and seemed to follow me. The effect was a cross between a pebble being drooped into a deep well and an alien spacecraft that seemed to hover over head, out of sight, but clearly with its eyes on me. At a loss for a rational explanation I resigned myself to whatever fate awaited me. That's when a Common Raven appeared between the tree tops, repeating the it's 'Never More" call to my embarrassed enlightenment.
Photo Courtesy the Macauley Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Beside there familiar croak and caw, listen to some of the other sounds a Common raven might make. It is not even close to a complete list. I personally believe they make it up as they go. Scary-smart birds.
Common Raven Calls
So keep you ears open. You might just have the hair on the back of your neck rise in surprised amazement. Let us know if you find a Bobolink this summer.
Good Birding,
- Hawkeye
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