Dickcissels on farm in Canon City area

This morning I was delighted to hear the "dickcissel" song (a raspy "dick, dick, ciss, ciss" and variations of those two notes) when I stopped at the farm that has the Bobolinks. Two more photos besides the one here can be seen by clicking here

Dickcissel are pretty uncommon west of the eastern edge of Colorado. I have had them in the Canon City area off and on for about 10 years, but I hadn't seen or heard any for a few years. They are a erratic normatic species but they may well have been around just not in farm areas that are accessable.

Though a prairie grassland bird, they have adopted to nesting in hay fields such as the one in which I found them. I think it is astonishing that, according to Birds of North America, most of these small (6 inch) birds winter from sw Mexico all the way down to central Venezuela (where they are hunted and eaten)! Read more about them at All About Birds

SeEtta