Tag: red-winged blackbird

First-year male red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) at Kingfisher Pond. 

This bird was feeding on tent caterpillars in the willow thicket. I love his cocked head and expression here, as though seeing the ladybird beetle on the twig and thinking, “Perhaps something crunchy for dessert.” 

I posted yesterday about seeing a small flock that consisted only of female red-winged blackbirds—a behavior I had never observed before. Thanks to @francescaridesbikes, @celestialphotography, and my brother-in-law Jerry I have a better understanding. Among migrating populations, male red-winged blackbirds form a kind of advance guard, moving to breeding areas ahead of the females in order to stake out territories and select a favorable nesting site. The females arrive later in a second wave. Most of my years observing these marvelous birds took place in eastern Virginia, where the blackbirds enjoy a mild year-round climate, and there is no strong seasonal migration as seen in northern states, or here in southeastern Arizona. 

Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus ♀) at San Pedro House, San Pedro

Riparian National Conservation Area, Cochise County, Arizona.

 

Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus ♀) at San Pedro House. 

I’m hoping someone can offer some insights on a bird behavior I observed for the first time. I watched a small flock of about 25 red-winged blackbirds perched calmly in a tree at San Pedro House, but the group comprised only females – not a male bird in sight. Has anyone else seen this? 

Male and female red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) on curly dock (Rumex crispus), at the Glendale Recharge Ponds, Glendale, Arizona. 

The female (bottom photo) has just a slight hint of red epaulet feathers 

―  a field mark I had never noticed before taking this photo. 

I was up yesterday a few hours before dawn for a morning of birding at the Tres Rios Wetlands in Phoenix. I arrived in time to hear the red-winged and yellow-headed blackbirds tuning up for their dawn chorus. At first the singers are all hidden in the cattails, but the males warm up their voices a bit in the half light. As the sun begins to rise they take up perches on the tops of the reeds, showing flashes of color, and the music builds. The females stay mostly concealed and don’t vocalize much, but for the males the singing is a momentous part of establishing territories and attracting female attention, though I think there might also be an element of ebullient self-declaration: I sing therefore I am. 

You can hear a sample of the dawn chorus here. The recording was made in Sonoma, California by Jack Hines. 

I was up yesterday a few hours before dawn for a morning of birding at the Tres Rios Wetlands in Phoenix. I arrived in time to hear the red-winged and yellow-headed blackbirds tuning up for their dawn chorus. At first the singers are all hidden in the cattails, but the males warm up their voices a bit in the half light. As the sun begins to rise they take up perches on the tops of the reeds, showing flashes of color, and the music builds. The females stay mostly concealed and don’t vocalize much, but for the males the singing is a momentous part of establishing territories and attracting female attention, though I think there might also be an element of ebullient self-declaration: I sing therefore I am. 

You can hear a sample of the dawn chorus here. The recording was made in Sonoma, California by Jack Hines.