Bird

Blue Grosbeak

Passerina caerulea

A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 21 habitats.

Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 21

Male Blue Grosbeak, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Brooke Smith, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 80154262. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Summer
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 21
Habitat models: Summer

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Virginia 21

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 21

SummerDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub RegenerationNamed place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

SummerRidge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and WoodlandLimestone cedar glade. Shown: Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Mason Brock (Masebrock), undated. Public domain. Source record.

SummerAppalachian Hemlock-Hardwood ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Hemlock forest / rocky mountain stream, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Mountains of North and South Carolina; exact site not identified, a neighboring state.Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous ModifierGrassy mountain bald with shrub islands. Shown: Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, Swain County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, July 2020, Andrea Walton / Great Smoky Mountains National Park, July 2020. Public domain. Source record.

SummerNorthern hardwood forest in winter. Shown: Baxter Creek Trail near Mount Sterling, Haywood County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Frozen northern hardwood forest, Baxter Creek Trail, Brian Stansberry, undated. CC BY 3.0. Source record.

SummerCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsWet pine flatwoods with a shrub layer. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

SummerCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsSandy pine savanna. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and BaygallDense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Cove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest; Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest; Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest; Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops

Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.

SummerCumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

SummerAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

SummerNortheastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

SummerCultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Disturbed, Non-specific; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Shale barrens

Steep, sun-baked slopes of loose shale with sparse oaks and Virginia pine and their own endemic wildflowers. Linked only where the source names shale barrens; calcareous shale stays with the limestone glades.

Summer

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

SummerDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation

Other habitats in its models (139)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.

Developed, Low Intensity Summer, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer.
North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer.
North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer.
Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer.
East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Summer.
Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer.
Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Summer.
Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Summer.
Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer.
Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Flatwoods Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer.
Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer.
East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer.
North-Central Oak Barrens Summer.
Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer.
Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer.
Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer.
Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Summer.
Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer.
Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer.
North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Summer.
Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer.
Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer.
Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Summer.
Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer.
Florida Dry Prairie Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer.
Recently Logged Areas Summer.
Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Summer.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer.
Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer.
Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Summer.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.