Montana Field Guide

Help

Montana Field Guides

Home - Other Field Guides
- Kingdom - Animals - Animalia
  - Phylum - Vertebrates - Craniata
    - Class - Birds - Aves
      - Order - Songbirds - Passeriformes
        
        Family - Tanagers / Cardinals / Buntings - Cardinalidae
        
        Species - Blue Grosbeak - Passerina caerulea

Blue Grosbeak - Passerina caerulea

Image Copyright and Usage Information

Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: SNA

Agency Status
USFWS: MBTA
USFS:
BLM:
PIF:

External Links

Listen to an Audio Sample

General Description

The Blue Grosbeak breeds across the entire Southern United States and into the plains of Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. The species migrates across the Caribbean to winter in Central America. The Blue Grosbeak is a rare summer breeder in southeastern Montana where there are fewer than 3 observation records reported in a typical year (Lowther et al. 2011, MTNHP 2019).

For a comprehensive review of the conservation status, habitat use, and ecology of this and other Montana bird species, please see Marks et al. 2016, Birds of Montana.

Diagnostic Characteristics

See Kaufman (1989) for information on identification.

Species Range

Montana Range Range Descriptions

All Ranges

Summer

Migratory

(Click legend blocks to view individual ranges)

Western Hemisphere Range

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database

Number of Observations: 52

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions

Relative Density

Recency

SUMMER (Feb 16 - Dec 14)

Direct Evidence of Breeding

Indirect Evidence of Breeding

No Evidence of Breeding

WINTER (Dec 15 - Feb 15)

Regularly Observed

Not Regularly Observed

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)

Habitat

National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species

Forest and Woodland

Deciduous Forest and Woodland

Great Plains Aspen Forest and Woodland

Great Plains Mesic Forest and Woodland

Low Elevation - Xeric Forest and Woodland

Foothills Limber Pine - Juniper Woodland

Great Plains Ponderosa Pine Forest and Woodland

Utah Juniper Woodland

Montane - Subalpine Forest and Woodland

Montane - Subalpine Limber Pine Woodland

Shrubland

Foothills - Montane Shrubland

Mountain Mahogany Woodland and Shrubland

Wetland and Riparian

Alkaline - Saline Wetlands

Greasewood Shrubland

Intermountain Alkaline - Saline Grassland and Meadow

Riparian and Wetland Forest

Great Plains Floodplain Forest

Riparian Shrubland

Great Plains Floodplain Shrubland and Herbland

Human Land Use

Developed

Developed - Low and Medium Intensity

Stewardship Responsibility

References

Literature Cited AboveLegend: View Online Publication
- [MTNHP] Montana Natural Heritage Program. 2019. Point observation database. Helena, MT.
- Kaufman, K. 1989. Blue grosbeak and indigo bunting. Am. Birds 43:383-388.
- Lowther, P.E. and J.L. Ingold. 2011. Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A.F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi-org.weblib.lib.umt.edu:2443/10.2173/bna.79
- Marks, J.S., P. Hendricks, and D. Casey. 2016. Birds of Montana. Arrington, VA. Buteo Books. 659 pages.
Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?
- American Ornithologists’ Union [AOU]. 1998. Check-list of North American birds, 7th edition. American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C. 829 p.
- Ehrlich, P., D. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birder’s handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster Inc. New York. 785 pp.
- Gillihan, SW. and T. VerCauteren. 2015. Pocket Guide to Prairie Birds. Brighton, CO: Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. 91 p.
- Hays, R., R.L. Eng, and C.V. Davis (preparers). 1984. A list of Montana birds. Helena, MT: MT Dept. of Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
- Ingold, James L. 1993. Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea). Species Account Number 079. The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved 3/25/2008 from The Birds of North America Online database
- Johnsgard, P.A. 1992. Birds of the Rocky Mountains with particular reference to national parks in the northern Rocky Mountain region. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. xi + 504 pp.
- Joslin, Gayle, and Heidi B. Youmans. 1999. Effects of recreation on Rocky Mountain wildlife: a review for Montana. [Montana]: Montana Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
- Lenard, S., J. Carlson, J. Ellis, C. Jones, and C. Tilly. 2003. P. D. Skaar's Montana bird distribution, 6th edition. Montana Audubon, Helena, MT. 144 pp.
- McWethy, D.B. 2007. Bird response to landscape and pattern disturbance across productivity gradients in forests of the Pacific Northwest. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 184 p.
- Montana Bird Distribution Committee. 2012. P.D. Skaar's Montana bird distribution. 7th Edition. Montana Audubon, Helena, Montana. 208 pp. + foldout map.
- Sibley, D. 2014. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY. 598 pp.
- Skaar, P. D., D. L. Flath, and L. S. Thompson. 1985. Montana bird distribution. Montana Academy of Sciences Monograph 3(44): ii-69.
- Skaar, P.D. 1969. Birds of the Bozeman latilong: a compilation of data concerning the birds which occur between 45 and 46 N. latitude and 111 and 112 W. longitude, with current lists for Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, impinging Montana counties and Yellowstone National Park. Bozeman, MT. 132 p.
- Stewart, R.E. and H.A. Kantrud. 1972. Population estimates of breeding birds in North Dakota. The Auk 89(4):766-788.
- Taylor, D.M. and C.H. Trost. 1987. The status of historically rare of unrecorded birds in Idaho. Unpublished manuscript. 68 p.
- U.S. Forest Service. 1991. Forest and rangeland birds of the United States: Natural history and habitat use. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Agricultural Handbook 688. 625 pages.
- Wright, P.L. 1996. Status of rare birds in Montana, with comments on known hybrids. Northwestern Naturalist 77(3):57-85.
Web Search Engines for Articles on "Blue Grosbeak"
Additional Sources of Information Related to "Birds"

Take us with you!

Look for this PDF icon as you search and browse. Click it to build a custom PDF with species shown on that page or for all the species within that taxonomic level. To create your own list of species, use the PDF Creator tool at the bottom of the Advanced Search page.

Here's some links if you want to download a whole group.

Dragonflies / Damselflies

Ferns and allies

Conifers

Flowering Plants (Dicots)

Flowering Plants (Monocots)

Citation for data on this website:
Blue Grosbeak — Passerina caerulea. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved on December 13, 2025, from https://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=ABPBX64010