(Agelaius phoeniceus)

Members of the genus Agelaius are widespread in America. The males are usually black relieved by red, brown or yellow shoulder patches. They nest near water, in reeds or bushes, the colonies sometimes numbering several thousand birds. As a rule the nest is placed close above the water. The clutch comprises 4 or 5 bluish eggs with brown blotches, and incubation, performed by the female, takes eleven days. The male helps to look after the young, but is sometimes polygamous.

Red-winged Blackbirds are about 9 to 10 inches long. No other bird resembles the male with its red shoulder patches with buff margins. The female, lacking this distinctive shoulder mark, is a dusky brown with a heavily streaked breast.

The Tricolored Blackbird (8 in.) of the Pacific coast has even deeper red shoulders with a white margin. Both species are marsh birds, nesting in reeds and cattails. They gather in large flocks during fall, winter, and spring.

The female lays 4 to 7 dull white eggs spotted with brown and black. (1.0 x.8 in.) in a carefully woven cup suspended, as a rule, among reeds in a marsh. Red-winged blackbirds feed on oats and other grain, weed seeds and some insects.

Photo courtesy Ron Watkins at Primary Images