Red-winged blackbird

Description:

These birds are sexually dimorphic; the male is black with a red shoulder and yellow wing bar, which it can puff up or hide, while the female is a dark, streaked brown. Their call is a throaty check and high slurred whistle, “terrr-eeee”. The male's song is a scratchy “oak-a-lee”, accompanied by a display of his red shoulder patches. The female’s song is a chatter: “chit chit chit chit chit chit cheer teer teer teerr.” These blackbirds gather in flocks and build nests in loose colonies, which helps in fending off predators. Females incubate 3-5 eggs for 11-12 days. Raptors including barn owls, raccoons, foxes, mink and snakes will hunt these blackbirds, while their eggs are eaten by crows, ravens, magpies and herons. They primarily eat seeds, fruit and insects but also consume snails, frogs, eggs, worms, spiders, mollusks and carrion.

Habitat:

North and Central America; open grassy areas, dry upland areas with meadows, prairies and old fields, but they prefer wetlands, freshwater and saltwater marshes, especially with cat-tails.

Notes:

The first 2 photos show a female, the next 2 and immature male and the 5th a mature male. Also see: http://birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/red-wing...