What to watch for in June: The Summertime Blues
Here’s the Central Texas bird forecast for the month, courtesy of Travis Audubon. Learn more about Central Texas birds and bird-related events for all ages at travisaudubon.org or by calling 512-300-BIRD. Follow us at www.facebook.com/travisaudubon
Every year it’s always a surprise when the faucet of migrating warblers and other birds pouring through central Texas turns off. One day they are here, and then…crickets.
But there are birds out there, including two bright blue songbirds that may help lessen your warbler withdrawal symptoms and early summer doldrums. We have colorful Blue Jays and Eastern Bluebirds year-round, but for a June challenge search out less common Blue Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings. In June they are most likely on territory, and will sing often, and often from an elevated perch like the top of a live oak. Hear them first, and then track them down. A solid look at a male of either species will take your breath away.
Unfortunately one might not always get the best view, or it’s fleeting, and then second guessing comes in. Was that a grosbeak or a bunting? Blue Grosbeaks are larger than Indigo Buntings (6.7 vs 5.3 inches, and are double the Indigo’s weight (1 oz. vs .5 oz.) The bad news: This is hard to judge if they are not side by side. The male Blue Grosbeak has chestnut wingbars, while the Indigo male has no wingbars. Both species have a dark upper bill (mandible) and silvery lower mandible. The Blue Grosbeak bill though is much larger, hence the name gros-bec from the French for large beak. Compared to the male Indigo it has more black in front of the eye and around the bill. Females and immature birds pose delightful puzzles. They are similar in size and bill shape to the males. However both females are shades of brown to blend in with their nest, so they won’t win many “wow” points. The adult female grosbeak has a chestnut wingbar and the female Indigo has two pale wingbars and some streaks on its breast. Both may have some blue in their tails. Neither has black around the bill. First spring birds (that hatched the previous year) are variable. You may see a young male Blue Grosbeak with a blue head and brown body and a little blue on the breast. Young male Indigos are remarkably splotchy gray and blue, similar to nonbreeding adult males.
The free Merlin app is a good tool to help with song identification, but you can pretty easily learn these two species’ songs without it. Male Blue Grosbeaks have a burry warble, rather low pitched and rich sounding, with some accented notes and distinct rhythm. They often give a sharp metallic tink or chink call too. The Indigo male is known for its doubling of notes in a typical song of 2-3 seconds. It has been characterized as “Fire, fire, where, where, here, here, see it, see it!” Both females don’t sing, but use several calls.
Fun facts about Blue Grosbeaks
The Blue Grosbeak summers in the U.S across a large breeding range from California to New Jersey and in the Midwest up to North Dakota. Although it is widespread, it is a low density breeder meaning that it is not abundant anywhere. In 1834 John James Audubon observed in The Birds of America, “Although this sweet songster spends the spring and summer in our southern states, it must be considered as a rather scarce bird there.” Since that time its breeding range has been expanding, but there are no established breeding areas in Canada yet. No one knows for sure what is causing the range expansion.
The Blue Grosbeak is a common to uncommon summer resident throughout most of Texas, arriving in April to mid-May and departing in mid-August through mid-October.
They are opportunistic foragers, with insects like grasshoppers on the menu, as well as grass seeds and agricultural waste seeds of rice and corn.
These stunning songbirds are not typically found in tidy parks and suburban yards. They like habitats like forest edges, old fields and open savanna with patchy shrubs and trees like mesquite, and transmission line cuts.
Some good places in Austin to look for breeding birds are Commons Ford Ranch Metro Park, Bob Wentz Park at Windy Point, Pace Bend Park and at the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge.
Fun facts about Indigo Buntings
Indigo Buntings like weedy fields and brushy areas with a mix of shrubby vegetation.
They migrate through Texas from late March through late May and again from mid-August through mid-October. As summer residents they are most abundant in the eastern half of the state.
Indigo Buntings are hardy songbirds. According to Birds of the World, “One male, banded as a yearling with one eye missing, returned the next year to the same breeding area.” There is a record of one that lived 11 years.
Good places to look for them in summer include Hornsby Bend’s Platt Lane, and Commons Ford Ranch. During migration you might see them pop up anywhere especially along the ungroomed edges of parks where there are seeds.
Upcoming Travis Audubon Events
Travis Audubon has many options for you to engage with birds in June. See the June field trips, classes, and workshops here and register. Try something a little different to change things up. How about a Poetry workshop? Or a Learn to Draw Birds workshop?
Compiled by Jane Tillman, Travis Audubon Volunteer
Resources: All About Birds, Birds of the World, the Travis Audubon Seasonal Distribution Checklist, The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Sibley, The Texas Ornithological Society Handbook of Texas Birds, Second Edition by Lockwood and Freeman, and Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America by Nathan Pieplow
Photo Credits: James Giroux, Andy Filtness, Jeff Osborne & Vincent O’Brien
