Agelaius phoeniceus
- The Red-winged Blackbird,
- is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North and much of Central America.
- It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico and Guatemala, with isolated populations in western El Salvador, northwestern Honduras and northwestern Costa Rica.
- It may winter as far north as Pennsylvania and British Columbia, but northern populations are generally migratory, moving south to Mexico and the southern United States.
- The common name for this species is taken from the mainly black adult male's distinctive red shoulder patches, or "epaulets", which are visible when the bird is flying or displaying.
- At rest, the male also shows a pale yellow wingbar. The female is blackish-brown and paler below.
- The female is considerably smaller than the male, at 17-18 cm (7 inches) length and 36 g weight, against his 22-24 cm (9.5 inches) and 64 g.
- Young birds resemble the female, but are paler below and have buff feather fringes. Both sexes have a sharply pointed bill.
- There are a number of subspecies, some of dubious status, 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.
- The Red-winged Blackbird feeds primarily on plant seeds, including weeds and waste grain, but about a quarter of its diet consists of insects, spiders, mollusks and other small animals.
- In season, it eats blueberries, blackberries, and other fruit. These birds can be lured to backyard bird feeders by bread and seed mixtures.
- When migrating north, these birds travel in single-sex flocks, and the males usually arrive a few days before the females.
- Once they have reached the location where they plan to breed, the males stake out territories by singing. They defend their territory aggressively, both against other male Red-winged Blackbirds and against birds they perceive as threatening, including crows, Ospreys, hawks, and even humans.
- The call of this species is a throaty check, and the male's song is scratchy oak-a-lee.
- Red-winged Blackbirds prefer marshes, but will nest near any body of water.
- Pairs raise two or three clutches per season, in a new nest for each clutch.
- The nests are cups of vegetation, and are either built in shrubs or attached to marsh grass.
- A clutch comprises three to five eggs. These are incubated by the female and hatch in 11-12 days.
- Red-winged Blackbirds are hatched blind and naked, but are ready to leave the nest ten days after hatching.
- Red-winged Blackbirds are polygynous, with territorial males defending up to 10 females.
- However, females frequently copulate with males other than their social mate and often lay clutches of mixed paternity.
- When the breeding season is over, Red-winged Blackbirds gather in huge flocks, sometimes numbering in the millions.
- In some parts of the United States, they are considered to be pests because these flocks can consume large amounts of cultivated grain or rice.
- This bird's numbers are declining due to habitat loss and the use of
poison to prevent this loss of crops