The Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is one of the most common species in North America including in New Brunswick. Its arrival in the spring is one of the most welcome sights for me. When it comes we know spring is here.
The Red-winged Blackbird ranges over most of North America. It spends summers and breeds over most of Canada except the very far north. It is a permanent resident over most of the US and Mexico. There is a relatively small area in northern Mexico where it is just a winter resident. These birds would move to more southern or coastal areas of Mexico to breed.
As shown in the photo above this species is at home in marshes and brushy areas. It tends to remain in small flocks and it even nests in areas of concentration. During migration it moves in large flocks often with other blackbirds like the Common Grackle, Rusty Blackbirds, Cowbirds and sometimes European Starlings. We have seen 3 of these large flocks this early spring, some as large as 200. Often Red-winged Blackbirds will move in single gender flocks, the males usually arriving first. Here in New Brunswick they usually arrive in early April and leave in November.
The Red-winged Blackbird is a medium-sized bird of the family, Icteridae. Adults are 22 cm (8.7 in) long. The males are a very conspicuous black with scarlet epaulets which they often raise in short flights. The scarlet is bordered inconspicuously with yellow or white depending on the subspecies. The bill is medium-sized, not as thick as the bill of the Cowbird. The young males coming back in the spring often are still brown streaked rather than black but they show the red of the epaulets. The female Red-winged Blackbird is a very streaked brown colour with no obvious epaulets, just a little reddish cast there. She has an obvious rufous overtone and her throat shows a pinkish cast. She has a white/buff supercilium (line over the eye).
Red-winged Blackbirds usually perch in obvious places in trees often making a lot of noise with their enthusiastic 'pump-er-dee'. The books sometimes interpret this as, 'kon-ka-reeeee'. Wherever they are, they are noisy. They usually feed on the ground on seeds and invertebrates.
Red-winged Blackbirds are often regarded as pests because they gather in large flocks and feed in grain fields. Farmers sometimes devise ways of killing or otherwise getting rid of these 'pests'. I have seen them many times feeding on corn here in the Fredericton area. They pick at the ends of the cobs until they have them riddled and torn apart either halfway down or the whole cob. They do take a significant part of the crop.
Red-winged Blackbirds nest in close proximity to one another in marshes or shrubby areas. In marshes the nest is built on emergent vegetation and is a cup made of reeds and grasses. Three to five blue-green eggs spotted with brown or purple are laid and incubated 11 to 12 days by the female. Two or three broods are normal and each time they build a new nest. This appears to be an adaptation in order to avoid mortality of the young from nest parasites. The young resemble their respective parent. Young males show rusty streaks and a buff supercilium. Young females look much like the adult female without the reddish or pinkish touches.
There are many subspecies of this species, 14 recognized in North America. The Californian subspecies is quite different, showing much darker females and the epaulets in the males do not show the yellow border.
Europe does not have our blackbirds. They have starlings, jackdaws and various species of crows. The European Blackbird is not an Icterid but a thrush and acts very much like a thrush. When I watched them in Norway I was surprised at how quiet and secretive they were. I expected them to act like our blackbirds!
No comments:
Post a Comment