Blue Grosbeak

Taxobox
name = Blue Grosbeak
status = LC
status_system = iucn3.1

---

image_caption = Male (upper), female (lower)
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Cardinalidae
genus = "Passerina"
species = "P. caerulea"
binomial = "Passerina caerulea"
binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)

Blue Grosbeak ("Passerina caerulea", formerly "Guiraca caerulea")*, is a medium-sized seed-eating bird in the same family as the Northern Cardinal, "tropical" or New World buntings, and "cardinal-grosbeaks" or New World grosbeaks.

The Blue Grosbeak is a migratory bird, with nesting grounds across most of the southern half of the United States and much of northern Mexico. It eats mostly insects, but it will also eat snails, spiders, seeds, grains, and wild fruits. The Blue Grosbeak forages on the ground and in shrubs and trees.

Habitat

This species is found in partly open situations with scattered trees, riparian woodland, scrub, thickets, cultivated lands, woodland edges, overgrown fields, hedgerows. It nests in a low tree or bush or a tangle of vegetation, usually about 1–3 m above ground, often at the edge of an open area.

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

* [http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/resshow/banks/banks1.htm Evolution of the binomial name of the Blue Grosbeak]
* [http://audubon-print.com/blue-grosbeak.html Blue Grosbeak by John Audubon]
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Blue_Grosbeak.html Blue Grosbeak Species Account] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [http://faculty.ncwc.edu/MBrooks/pif/Bird%20Profiles/blue_grosbeak.htm North Carolina Partners in Flight]
* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i5970id.html Blue Grosbeak - "Guiraca caerulea"] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
* [http://sdakotabirds.com/species/blue_grosbeak_info.htm Blue Grosbeak Information and Photos] - South Dakota Birds and Birding
* [http://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/songbird-pictures.html Picture of Blue Grosbeak in hand]