Friday Foto: Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird in red elderberry tree, Forest Grove, Oregon, 2 June 2011 by Greg Gillson.

 

Visit any wetlands in North America right now and you'll likely see (and hear!) this bird!

We have discussed Red-winged Blackbirds in the past.

At the pond... Red-winged Blackbird

Adult male Red-winged Blackbird, displaying, with red shoulder patch obvious, Tualatin River NWR, Sherwood, Oregon on 9 May 2009 by Greg Gillson.

 

The musical konk-a-REE-a song of the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar summer sound in marshes and wetlands throughout North and Middle America. In winter these birds move south out of most of Alaska and Canada, though they remain in milder coastal British Columbia and SE Alaska.

The males are glossy black with reddish-orange shoulder patches, edged with yellow. During mating or territorial displays, the male prominently shows off his red wing patches (photo above). At other times, though, the black scapular feathers of the upper shoulders conceal the red patch and just the yellow border shows (photo below).

Adult male Red-winged Blackbird, singing, with red shoulder patch mostly concealed, Fernhill Wetlands, Forest Grove, Oregon on 3 May 2009 by Greg Gillson.

 

Females, on the other hand, are very streaky, and lack the red shoulder patches. They resemble sparrows, but have a longer, more pointed bill and full tail--the same silhouette as the male Red-winged Blackbird. Immature males, through their first year are similar to the females, but do show varying amounts of red on the wing. These plumages are the source of many questions we receive about bird identification.

Female or immature Red-winged Blackbird, Fernhill Wetlands, Forest Grove, Oregon on 7 June 2008 by Greg Gillson.

 

In fall and winter Red-winged Blackbirds form large flocks with other blackbirds, starlings, and cowbirds. While they often feed in fields and cattle feedlots, many also visit backyard bird feeders for sunflower and other seeds and suet. They prefer to feed on the ground or on a tray feeder.

In the Pacific Northwest, and especially in California, there are two other similar birds. Actually, there is a form of Red-winged Blackbird in the Central Valley of California that lacks the yellow edges to the red wing patch. This form of Red-winged Blackbird (not actually a different species) is called the "bicolored blackbird." A separate species, the Tricolored Blackbird is found in California, with scattered colonies in SW and Central Oregon and, in very recent years, barely into southeastern Washington. The Tricolored Blackbird has a deeper blood-red shoulder patch bordered with white. The voice lacks any musical overtones, but otherwise matches the pattern of Red-winged Blackbird. Females are similar, but the female Tricolored Blackbird is quite dark on the lower belly, while the Red-winged Blackbird female is streaked.

What bird is that?... Questions and answers

Send your queries about Pacific Northwest bird identification or behavior or other topics. I'll do my best to figure out what you saw. I'll do some research. Then I'll write an article to answer your question. If you have a certain question, no doubt others will, too, and appreciate knowing the answer. My goal will be to do one Q & A article each week, answering all the questions I receive that week. I'll just use your first name and city in my answers. If you send photos I will likely use them (perhaps cropping and adjusting exposure for the web) so others can see what you are seeing.

Send questions to me using this link: PNWBB Q & A

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Question: "Sending photo of what I am pretty sure is a Purple Finch?? It had a very white belly. Is it: 'plain belly-Purple Finch, striped underside-House Finch'???? Thanks so much for your help."

Betty at Foster Lake, Oregon

Answer: You got it right, Betty! That is a male Purple Finch. One way to help separate Purple and House Finches is that the House Finch has most of its orange-red concentrated on the forehead, upper breast, and rump. As you can see on your photo (click photo for larger view), your bird is generally washed with pinkish-red across the top of the head and all down the back and wing coverts--too much reddish wash for House Finch. Another clue. Purple Finches have a pale eyebrow that wraps around the back of the ear coverts. This is obvious on females, but on the male (including your photo) these are pinkish red, but still obvious. House Finches are rather streaky on the head, but without any obvious pattern wrapping around the ear coverts. This photo of Purple Finch shows the relatively unstreaked flanks. As shown in our previous post, In the backyard... House Finch, these birds have heavily streaked sides and flanks.

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Question: "I am sending you a photo I took today--I think there were actually two different birds very similar to this one. This bird was black, not brown, and when it flew it had the red wing bar above the obvious yellow bar. It would seem to me to be a male red-wing but it is so striped as the females."

Betty at Foster Lake, Oregon

Answer: In a previous Question and answer column, Johnny sent in a photo of a female Red-winged Blackbird. Your bird is similar, a bit darker, but showing a bit of red and yellow wing stripe (click photo for larger view). What is it? Well, Betty, this is a first-year male Red-winged Blackbird. It is almost a year old, having hatched out some time last year between May and July. While in many species, birds-of-the-year molt into adult-like plumage in fall and winter, some species--like this Red-winged Blackbird--have a distinctive first-year plumage. You can tell that this bird has fresh, new plumage because the feather edges of the back and wing feathers are all outlined with crisp, pale feather edges. These soon wear off. By mid summer this bird will be solid black throughout and look quite like an older adult male.

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Question: "I am attaching a photo I put on flickr for OBOL ID. They confused me because of the different head color I was thinking male/female but found out it was possibly age difference on the birds so I couldn't identify them originally. Another good lesson learned."

Betty at Foster Lake, Oregon

Answer: Thanks for the additional photos, Betty. The bird on the left with the buffy or ruddy eyebrow and throat is an adult female Red-winged Blackbird (click photo for larger view). As it is too early in the year for juvenile blackbirds, the bird on the right is a one-year-old female Red-winged Blackbird. In my previous answer I mentioned the fresh feathers with the crisp, pale edges, remember? Can you see that this right hand bird has fresher feathers? Notice especially the pale edges that almost create wingbars on that younger bird. Then see how those pale tips are not so obvious on the older bird. You know, most experienced birders don't look at these common birds as closely as you have. Well done. We have certainly learned a lot about Red-winged Blackbird plumage. Thank you for your questions, Betty!

What bird is that?... Questions and answers

You have questions. Lots of questions!

This article starts a new feature. Send your queries about Pacific Northwest bird identification or behavior or other topics. I'll do my best to figure out what you saw. I'll do some research. Then I'll write an article to answer your question. If you have a certain question, no doubt others will, too, and appreciate knowing the answer. My goal will be to do one Q & A article each week, answering all the questions I receive that week. I'll just use your first name and city in my answers. If you send photos I will likely use them (perhaps cropping and adjusting exposure for the web) so others can see what you are seeing.

Send questions to me using this link: PNWBB Q & A

To get this started, and serve as a template for future Q & A's, Johnny in Sandy, Oregon agreed to help with the first batch of questions and he even supplied photos. Thanks, Johnny. Here we go...


"I had the arrival of a group of about 8 or 9 birds that I believe to be Pine Siskins, the day after the first Lesser Goldfinches came to my Njer seed feeder. The Goldfinches have not returned since the new guys took over. And they are constantly bickering and trying to keep everyone else from eating (see photos). Also these guys really put away the grocerys. They eat, go get a drink and eat some more. I don't know how they can fly the eat so much. Are they always like this, or is my flok simply a bunch of hooligans?"

Johnny
Sandy, Oregon

The tiny, goldfinch-sized Pine Siskins are heavily streaked with a strongly notched tail. In flight you can see the yellow wing stripe (Click photo for larger view). They are irruptive in nature, following food sources (seeds and budding trees); they can be unpredictably abundant one year, but perhaps absent or uncommon the next. They breed in the pine forests in mountains in the Pacifc NW, but descend to the lowland regularly in spring for the tree and flower buds. They may occasionally remain through the summer in the lowlands to breed if there is a reliable food source. They are highly social throughout the year, foraging in large flocks, often driving other larger birds from the feeder. In a few weeks they will likely disappear to the mountains. For more information, see Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's web site on the Pine Siskin Irruption of 2008-09 that is happening primarily in the East. This article has many additional interesting facts about Pine Siskins.

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"I had several new birds in my back yard yesterday. This one is a dead ringer for the female version of the Red Winged Blackbird, (even though it doesn't look at all like a black bird to me) that is on my backyard birds chart. Is It a Blackbird?"

Johnny
Sandy, Oregon

This is, indeed, a female Red-winged Blackbird. Although it may look like a large sparrow at first, its shape reveals its identity. The long, very pointed bill and flat forehead is common to the blackbirds, cowbirds, meadowlarks, and orioles, which are all in the same family. Sparrows have shorter, conical beaks and most have rather rounded heads. I will unabashedly point you to my Red-winged Blackbird photo album. Compare the head and bill shape of the males with the females. Then go over to my Song Sparrow photo album and compare the bill shape to that of the blackbirds.

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"I had both of these guys in my yard yesterday. I'm pretty sure the yellow one is just a House Finch, but the other bird doesn't look like any I've been able to find. Look closely at the color around the eye."

Johnny
Sandy, Oregon

You are correct, Johnny, these are House Finches. The male is yellowish-orange and within normal range of color variation for this species. See our recent article on House Finches. The other bird is a female. I'm no expert on this, but the female appears to be suffering from the disease, avian conjunctivitis. Birds suffering from this disease display "red, swollen, watery, or crusty eyes; in extreme cases the eyes are so swollen or crusted over that the birds are virtually blind." This disease was first noted in the Eastern population of House Finches in the Washington D.C. area in 1994. It broke out in the West in 2004. For more information see the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's web page, House Finch Disease Survey.

Backyard birds of... Burns, Oregon

Red-winged Blackbird and Yellow-headed Blackbird, Hines, Oregon on 10 May 2008 by Larry Hammond.


 
The following common yardbirds are found in Burns and Hines, Oregon. To a large degree this list applies to many towns in the Great Basin eco-region.

The seasons listed are those when most common, though some individuals may occur at other seasons.

California Quail, year round
Red-tailed Hawk, year round
Rufous Hummingbird, spring, summer
Black-chinned Hummingbird, spring, summer
Eurasian Collard-Dove, year round
Rock Pigeon, year round
Mourning Dove, summer
Say's Phoebe, spring, summer, fall
Steller's Jay, winter
American Crow, spring, summer, fall
Townsend's Solitaire, winter
American Robin, year round
Varied Thrush, winter
Cedar Waxwing, fall, winter, spring
European Starling, year round
Orange-crowned Warbler, spring, fall
Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler, spring, fall
Spotted Towhee, spring, fall
Lark Sparrow, spring
Lincoln's Sparrow, spring, fall
Song Sparrow, spring, fall
White-crowned Sparrow, fall, winter, spring
Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco, winter
Bullock's Oriole, summer
Yellow-headed Blackbird, spring
Red-winged Blackbird, spring, summer, fall
Brewer's Blackbird, spring
House Finch, year round
Cassin's Finch, spring, summer, fall
Lesser Goldfinch, year round
American Goldfinch, year round
House Sparrow, year round

Less common birds:
Cooper's Hawk, fall, winter
Sharp-shinned Hawk, fall, winter
Great Horned Owl, year round
Western Kingbird, summer
Western Scrub-Jay, year round
Black-capped Chickadee, winter
Mountain Chickadee, winter
Bohemian Waxwing, winter
Nashville Warbler, spring
Golden-crowned Sparrow, spring, fall
Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco, winter
Pine Siskin, winter (irruptive, not common every year)

Because Burns and Hines are on the edge of huge wetlands, there are many birds often seen flying over local backyards:
Canada Goose, year round
Ross's Goose, spring
Snow Goose, spring
Turkey Vulture, spring, summer, fall
Northern Harrier, summer
Bald Eagle, winter
Golden Eagle, year round
Swainson's Hawk, spring, summer, fall
Prairie Falcon, year round
American Kestrel, year round
Greater and Lesser Sandhill Crane, spring
Ring-billed Gull, spring, summer, fall
Franklin's Gull, spring, summer, fall
Northern Raven, year round


This list was provided by Steve Dowlan who lives in Hines, Oregon. Be sure to visit Steve's photo site at Dowlan's Photography Log.

Thanks, also, to Larry Hammond for his great photo of the blackbirds from his backyard in Hines, Oregon.