Dickcissel

Spiza americana

Tiny grassland bird that travels in flocks of millions to South America. Yellow-chested, V-marked, hard to ignore in a hayfield.

Population: ~28 million (global breeding population, Partners in Flight estimate); down roughly 14% since 1970 per North American Breeding Bird Survey trend data, though year-to-year abundance is highly variable
Habitat: Grasslands and prairies — overgrown pastures, hayfields, savannahs, weedy meadows, and croplands, mainly in the central Great Plains
Fun fact: Outside the breeding season Dickcissels gather into enormous flocks — sometimes numbering in the millions on their South American wintering grounds — that roost together at night; the species is also truly polygynous, with successful males sometimes attracting up to six mates.
Range: Breeds across the central and eastern United States (core in the Great Plains/Midwest, with erratic year-to-year range shifts, historically expanding east in the early 1800s then contracting after 1850); winters mainly in the Llanos grasslands of Venezuela and Colombia, with smaller numbers through Central America and southern Mexico
Diet: Insects (grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, wasps, flies, spiders) during the breeding season; shifts almost entirely to seeds and grains (grasses, sorghum, rice) on migration and in winter
Size: 0.15 m
Wingspan: 0.25 m
Lifespan: 8 years

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