Dickcissel Spiza americana

Identification Tips:

• Length: 5.75 inches
• Large, pale bill
• Rusty shoulder patch

Adult male:

• Gray crown, cheek and nape
• Yellow and white supercilium and malar streak
• White chin, black throat and yellow breast
• Grayish-white belly and undertail coverts
• Gray-brown back with black streaks
• Black wings with gray-brown edges

Adult female:

• Gray-brown crown, cheek and nape
• Yellow and white supercilium and malar streak
• Grayish-white underparts
• Buffy streaked flanks
• Gray-brown back with black streaks
• Black wings with gray-brown edges
• Immatures similar to female but duller.

Similar species:

The male Dickcissel is similar in pattern to the meadowlark but is much smaller with a thicker bill. The female Dickcissel is similar to the female House Sparrow but has larger, pale bill. Often, the female or immature Dickcissel has yellow in the face, rusty shoulders or streaked flanks that the House Sparrow lacks.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.