Educate Yourself About the Yellow-headed Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
The Yellow-headed Blackbird has a bright yellow hood, with a moderately thick bill, stocky grey-black body, rounded wings, and a somewhat short tail. Its length is 7-9in (18-24cm) Its wingspan is 12in (30cm) Its voice is a song sounding like a “klee-klee-klee, ko-kow-w-w”, and a call of a high “check”. There eggs are pale white to pale green with splotches of browns and grays, with often 2 clutches consisting of 3-5 or (2-6) eggs.
The female incubates for about 10-12 days, and fledging time is around 11-14 days.
Both male and female feed their young. The female is dull brown with a yellow throat.
The Yellow-headed Blackbird is common from the Midwestern Prairies to the Pacific Coast where they will nest in wetlands. They will also frequently visit lawns in suburbs and towns, and if they can find a Japanese maple planted in a backyard water garden.
Thousand of blackbirds will descend on freshly planted cornfields, to the dismay of a farmer, but they are a gardener’s dream, when feasting on thousands of unwanted pests, and insects in f lower and vegetable gardens.
The Yellow-headed Blackbird will flock with other birds like, starlings, grackles, 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, when taking an evening stroll in early spring, and sometimes they can fly so close, you can hear the whir of a million 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 on 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.
The Yellow-headed Blackbird prefers to build their nests in willow trees near water, in well-constructed bowls of grass, weed stalks, and twigs with a mud foundation. But they also like to attach their nests to shrubs, cattails, or rushes near the waters edge, and if there is plenty of cover, in fields and backyard shrubs. The female will line the nest with feathers, soft moss, grass, and even with paper or rags, if available.
If you like to attract the Yellow-headed 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 berry-producing plants when they are visiting in early spring and midsummer during migrations.
