Red Winged Black Bird

Thanks Sachin.

J,we do have tricolored black birds in Northern California. One of the latest videos posted by Audobon.
http://youtu.be/7EU8uqnXxHw

Beautiful !

thank you Arun. There were lots of these among the reeds trying to settle their territories very vigilantly.

nice spotting !!

J.there was a study which showed that some phenotypic traits in adults are strongly influenced by their exposure during childhood and adolescence.

eye color and hair color is genetic.So it is natural to assume that wing color would be. But Phenotypes can change because of environment and diet too.

Hemma, I would say that there is a definite genetic difference within species of Red-winged Blackbirds, though I definitely do think environment also has something to do with it as well. It is probably a combination.

http://youtu.be/q3QicOAiBXk
nice video.

thanks Next to. These are lovely birds,

Great series. Love how you captured it sporting it's colors.

Thanks Cole!!

Fantastic series Hemma :)

bicolored populations are most closely related to one another, to the exclusion of adjacent typical populations, despite being separated by nearly 3000 kilometers.
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~barke042/projects...
Scroll for info on blackbirds.

Awesome capture Hemma,gorgeous series,great info and chat about ,very cool,congrats and thanks for sharing

Wow J,that is indeed Fascinating!! So there is no relationship between Genetics and Wing PAtch color?!

Awesome! I also read this from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
"Different populations and subspecies of Red-winged Blackbirds vary markedly in size and proportions. An experiment was conducted that moved nestlings between populations and found that the chicks grew up to resemble their foster parents. This study indicated that much of the difference seen between populations is the result of different environments rather than different genetic makeups."

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-w...

To me, it is quite amazing such a common species still has so many mysteries behind it.

So this is " Agelaius phoeniceus Gubernator"

Wow! That's amazing, Hemma! Could you post that information on my spotting, too? How fascinating. Now I need to find the subspecies in my area!!

J,
here is an extract from the wikipedia. The black birds in California do have a red patch only and are lacking in yellow due to the subspecies.
"There are a number of subspecies, some of doubtful status, which are mostly quite similar in appearance, but the 'Bicolored Blackbird' A. p. gubernator of California and central Mexico is distinctive. The male lacks the yellow wing patch of the nominate race, and the female is much darker than the female nominate. The taxonomy of this form is little understood, with the relationships between the two isolated Bicolored populations, and between these and Red-winged still unclear"
So basically we have bicolored Blackbirds out here!!

Y es Diane,it is a vivid red!

Wow, I didn't even realize that they had that much red on them ! Fabulous

Thanks Gators. It was quite a racket!

wonderful shots :)

added more pictures. Flashing Red!!!!