Red-winged Blackbird - Photogs by Bruce Dayton - Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

ORDER: Passeriformes
FAMILY: Icteridae (Blackbirds and Orioles - 23 Species)
SPECIES: Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Red-winged Blackbird
When the breeding season is over, Red-winged Blackbirds gather in huge flocks, sometimes numbering in the millions. In some parts of the United States, they are considered to be pests because these flocks can consume large amounts of cultivated grain or rice.
SIZE	The Red-winged Blackbird is a large (7 to 9 1/2") black bird.
DESCRIPTION	The males are glossy black everywhere except on the epaulets, or shoulders, where they have a distinctive red shoulder patch. The female are blackish-brown streaked with buff and chestnut and a breast and belly whitish with heavy dark streaking. The females are considerably smaller than the male.
NESTING	Clutch size ranges from 2-5 eggs, which are incubated in 10 to 12 days. Pairs raise two or three clutches per season, in a new nest for each clutch. The nests are cups of vegetation, and are either built in shrubs or attached to marsh grass near a body of water. A redwing nest is constructed mostly from dead cattail leaves, rushes, shrubs, sedges and other plant fibers.
RANGE	The Red-winged Blackbird is found over most of North America and parts of Central America. When the breeding season is over, Red-winged Blackbirds gather in huge flocks, sometimes numbering in the millions. Winter roosts include grain-producing areas in Washington, California, and south-central regions of the United States.
HABITAT	Redwings can be found in a wide range of habitats, but they usually prefer marshes and spend time feeding in agriculture fields.
DIET	The Red-winged Blackbird feeds primarily on plant seeds, including weeds and waste grain, but about a quarter of its diet consists of insects, spiders, mollusks and other small animals. In season, it eats blueberries, blackberries, and other fruit. In late summer Blackbirds start foraging in fields in large flocks. Sometimes they visit backyard bird feeders.

INTERESTING FACTS

Migration of Birds

A regular seasonal movement of the whole or part of a bird population to a different area (travel between regions of the world) followed by a return journey. Many species of birds migrate very long distances, the most common pattern being for birds to breed in the Taiga or the Arctic Tundra in the northern hemisphere. They return in winter back to warmer regions, often to the tropics of the southern hemisphere.

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The images on this web page are copyrighted © 2003 - 2008 by Bruce Dayton. I want to share my photos to promote conservation and to help people identify and learn about the birds and other creatures that live with us on the North American continent. Please do not use any of my work in any non-profit or for-profit project without first getting written permission from me. You can ask for permission by emailing me at webmaster@wildlifeofnorthamerica.info. All reproductions must bear an appropriate credit.




Red-winged Blackbird

Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Seneca County, New York


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Female	Male

Red-winged Blackbird Drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes