Red-Wings Blackbirds Everywhere
A very protective Red-winged Blackbird male | BUY PRINTS
I’ve only been truly fascinated by birds now for about a year. My wife and I accidently became birders during the Pandemic #thanksCovid. But one thing I can tell you already is in the spring, red-winged blackbirds are everywhere, noisy, and beautiful. You can’t miss them.
I spent much of my life hearing this sound but not noticing it.
Now I can’t escape it. They have other songs, calls, chirps and warning sounds, but this one is everywhere for me.
I’ve Had the Opportunity to Take Many Photos Recently (or try to, at least)
At times they seem to want to pose for pictures. At other times they are not happy with me being in their territory and they try to look fierce and scary to move me along. You would think that both of these behaviors would make it easy, but it is proving hard to create pictures I’m happy with. In the long run I want to have more than a picture of a bird, I want something that stands on its own as an image, and not just be informational. The right composition, the right lighting, the right location AND THEN after all of that, having the right reason or feeling in the image is still challenging me.
But that is what make this art form so fun . . .
Let’s Talk About the Basics of This Bird
These are some of the most abundant birds in North America, one of the most boldly colored (even is mostly black) and can be seen and heard everywhere. They are a very common site anywhere there are cattails, along soggy roads, or near water ways where reads or plants near the shore give them hiding and perching places. They prefer to feed on the ground, so if you are trying to lure them to your yard or feeders put some seed on the ground as well. Their diet consists of insects and seeds. In the summer many different insects - beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, spiders, millipedes, snails and others. Overall, the majority of their diet year-round is seeds, especially of grasses and the areas they live around.
They can be resident birds or some travel short distances to migrate. Most winter in the southern United States with some as far as 800 miles from their breeding zones. Those in the west and south do not migrate at all.
The males are territorial and will have many mates in their area. Sometimes up to 15 if the area allows it. But it is also interesting that in studies it has been shown that not all of the offspring in the birds territorial area were fathered by that male. Seems the breed pretty freely. They also roost in flocks year round so stick together. In the winter those flocks can grow to millions of birds - those flocks can be mixed with other blackbirds or starlings as well.
To attract a mate the males will perch on a high read or branch lifting and puffing our the edges of the wing to show more of the red and yellow patches. Then they sing. And they sing. They are load, and you can’t miss them.
Get out there. listen and look around. I’m sure you will find a few.
