Blue Grosbeak

 

A male Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea) atop his singing perch, a sprig of Yellow Sweet Clover. This impossibly good-looking bird is much easier to find in Ohio than it once was. During Ohio's first breeding bird atlas (1982-87) this was a rare bird found sparingly in our southernmost counties. Since then, the population has grown by nearly 12% annually and Blue Grosbeaks can be found routinely to Lake Erie. A colorful Exhibit A of a recent range expansion of a southern species. This one was in Franklin County, and I photographed it on June 4, 2023. I'm going to soon write a more in-depth piece on Blue Grosbeaks and their continuing northward range expansion for my Columbus Dispatch newspaper column and will post that here after it runs.