The Blue Grosbeak is a chunky, deep-blue bunting relative that can look almost black in poor light, brightening to a rich cobalt blue in good light, set off by two broad rusty-cinnamon wing bars and a large, heavy silvery bill. The female is a warm cinnamon-brown with fainter wing bars and the same big bill, and both sexes have a habit of twitching and spreading the tail. Larger and heavier-billed than the similar Indigo Bunting, with which it can be confused, it favors brushy, weedy habitats.
A southern species that has been expanding northward, the Blue Grosbeak occurs in Michigan as a rare visitor and local breeder, mostly from spring through summer, in brushy fields, hedgerows, weedy edges, and shrubby old fields. Its slow, rich, warbling song comes from an open perch in such habitat. As its range creeps north, it is found a little more often than it once was, but a deep-blue, rusty-winged Blue Grosbeak remains an exciting find for birders in the state.
Feeds on insects — including grasshoppers, beetles, and caterpillars — along with seeds and waste grain, foraging on the ground and in low vegetation in brushy, weedy habitats. Its large, heavy bill lets it handle big insects and hard seeds alike.
The Blue Grosbeak is larger with a much heavier silvery bill and two broad rusty-cinnamon wing bars, and it often twitches its tail. The Indigo Bunting is smaller, smaller-billed, and lacks the bold rusty wing bars.
As a rare visitor and local breeder, mostly spring through summer, in brushy fields, hedgerows, weedy edges, and shrubby old fields. It has been expanding its range northward.
The female Blue Grosbeak is a warm cinnamon-brown with faint wing bars and the same large silvery bill as the male, quite different from the deep-blue male but sharing the heavy bill and tail-twitching habit.
Females are warm cinnamon-brown year-round, and first-year males are brown blotched with blue as they molt in. Both show the same heavy silver bill and rusty wingbars, which separate them from the smaller, finer-billed Indigo Bunting.
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