Black-Throated Bunting

In the Midwest in summer, a male Dickcissel sometimes seems to sing their name from every wire, fencepost, or weed stalk in prairie or farming country. Very erratic in summer occurrence, they may nest in large numbers in an area one year and be totally absent there the next, presumably as a response to rainfall and its effect on habitat. Away from their mid-continent stronghold, migrant Dickcissels are often detected by their electric-buzzer call note as they fly overhead. Most winter in the tropics, but a few spend the winter at bird feeders in the northeastern United States, where they usually flock with House Sparrows.