Dickcissel (Spiza americana)

County List:

Rule:

Mixed Forested/Nonforested or Nonforested Landscapes

       Small Grains/Forage Crops
       or Fields/Pastures

Habitat List:

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Literature:

Habitat: Highest breeding densities occur in mid-successional old field communities, where males select territories with the greatest volume of vegetation. Lowest densities occur in grazed pastures, but the species is common in ungrazed tallgrass prairie. The habitat preference in Michigan reflects the same pattern. Of all Atlas Habitat Survey records, 58% were from old fields with shrubs less than 0.6 m tall, 24% from hayfields, and 12% from pastures. The frequency of polygyny is highest in old fields, but there is no difference between the successes of individual nests in old fields and prairies.

Habitat: Alfalfa and other fields; meadows, prairies. Originally nested in native prairies and meadows. Today, may nest in fields of alfalfa, clover, timothy, or other crops.

Diet: Mostly insects and seeds. Insects make up majority of diet in early summer; included are many grasshoppers, also crickets, caterpillars, beetles, and many others. At other seasons, may feed mainly on seeds, including those of weeds and grasses, also cultivated grain.

Nest: Site is usually on or near ground, typically well concealed in dense growth of grass, weeds, alfalfa, clover, or other plants. Sometimes placed in shrub or low tree, up to 6 feet above the ground, exceptionally higher. Nest is a bulky open cup made of weeds, grass, leaves, lined with fine grass, rootlets, sometimes animal hair.