Agelaius phoeniceus
No cattail marsh is free from the loud calls and bossy, aggressive nature of the Red-winged Blackbird. The male's bright red shoulders and short, raspy song are his most important tools in the often strategic and intricate displays he uses to defend his territory from rivals. Male Red-winged Blackbirds arrive at the marshes and wetlands of the Rockies a week or so before the females. In the ladies' absence, the males stake out territories through song and visual displays. A flashy and richly voiced male who has managed to establish a large and productive territory can attract several mates to his cattail mansion. In experiments, males whose red shoulders were painted black soon lost their territories to rivals that they had previously defeated. |
I.D.: Male: all-black, except for the large, red shoulder patch edged in yellow. Female: heavily streaked underparts; mottled brown upperparts; faint red shoulder patch; light eyebrow. Size: L 71/2-91/2 in. (19-24 cm). Range: common migrant and breeder throughout the Rockies; fairly common winter resident in the southern U.S. Rockies; uncommon winter resident in the northern U.S. Rockies. Habitat: cattail marshes, wet meadows, croplands and shoreline shrubs up to the lower subalpine. Nesting: colonial and polygynous; in cattails or shoreline bushes; nest is woven with dried cattail leaves and grass and lined with grass and soft materials; female incubates 3-4 eggs for 10-12 days. Feeding: gleans the ground for seeds, waste grain and invertebrates; also gleans vegetation, catches insects in flight and eats berries; occasionally visits feeding stations during migration. Voice: loud, raspy konk-a-ree or eat my CHEEzies. Similar Species: male is distinctive (when shoulder patch shows). Brewer's Blackbird and Rusty Blackbird: females lack the streaked underparts. |
