Educate Yourself About the Red-winged Blackbird
Red-winged Blackbird
The Red-winged Blackbird has a fairly thick bill, dull black stocky body; the orange-red shoulders are covered with a yellowish margin, the orange-red shoulder coverts are shown when singing or agitated, rounded wings, and a fairly short tail.Its length is 7-9in (18-24cm) Its wingspan is 12in (30cm) Its voice is notes including a loud “check”, and a high slurred “tee-errr”, song is a gurgling “konk-la-ree” or “o-ka-lay”. There eggs are green-blue marbled with black, brown and purple, with often 2 clutches consisting of 3-4 or (2-6) eggs. The female incubates for around 10-12 days, and fledging time is about 11-14 days. Both male and female feed their young. The female is streaky brown.
The Red-winged Blackbird will flock with other birds like grackles, starlings, and cowbirds in the fall and winter, and these flocks can be enormous. One roost was estimated to hold over 15 million birds, in the Dismal Swamp of Virginia. Look up in the sky in early spring, and sometimes, if you are lucky enough, they will fly so close, you can hear the whir of millions of wings.
They used to be restricted to marshy habitats, but now you can find them all across America, in upland pastures, in brushy fields, in wet meadows, and fencerows. They are the most abundant bird in North America, perhaps because of its ability to exploit large food supplies from feedlots, and agricultural fields. This can make a farmer very unhappy, but they also eat a lot of unwanted pests by the millions, so lets hope that will make up for their sometimes unwanted feasting.
Some of the blackbirds are not black at all, they belong to a very big family witch includes meadowlarks, and Bright-hued Orioles as well. The Red-winged Blackbird is common in southeastern Alaska to the southern tip of Florida, and you will find them wintering mostly in the South. The female will not winter as far north as the male, and will usually arrive approx. one week after the male witch has hurried home to set up the best nesting territories. The female will choose her male, and then start building the well-camouflaged nest near the ground without help from the male. The male will usually mate with two or more females.
If you like to attract the Red-winged Blackbird to your lovely bird feeding garden, it will be great if you have a nearby pond or a marshy area where they can nest. Fill your hanging bird feeders and bird tables with millet and cracked corn. They also like to feed on weeds like smartweed and ragweed seeds, and assorted berries when they are visiting in early spring and midsummer during migrations.
