Brewer's Blackbird

Brewer's Blackbird is a common and adaptable songbird of open habitats across the western and central United States, equally at home in agricultural fields, city parks, and parking lots. Males are glossy black overall, shimmering with iridescent purple on the head and greenish tones on the body in good light, and are marked by striking pale yellow eyes.

Females are much plainer, a uniform dull grayish-brown with dark eyes, lacking the male's glossy sheen entirely, a contrast that can make the sexes look almost like different species at a glance.

Key field marks

• Male: glossy black plumage with iridescent purple head and greenish body sheen, pale yellow eyes
• Female: plain grayish-brown, dark eyes, no iridescence
• Slim build with a relatively long tail and thin bill

Similar species

• Common Grackle: larger with a longer, more strongly keeled tail and a bigger bill.
• Rusty Blackbird: in nonbreeding plumage shows warm rusty feather edges rather than the cleaner glossy black of Brewer's, and ranges rarely overlap outside migration/winter in some areas.
• European Starling: shorter tail, speckled plumage in winter, and a yellow (not black) bill in breeding season.

Habitat

Brewer's Blackbirds favor a wide range of open habitats, including agricultural fields, pastures, city parks, lawns, and parking lots, generally avoiding dense forest.

Range

The species breeds across much of the western and central United States and Canada, and has been gradually expanding its breeding range eastward in recent decades. It winters across much of the southern and western US and Mexico.

Migration

Brewer's Blackbirds are partial migrants; many western and northern populations move south for winter, while some populations in milder climates remain resident year-round.

Behavior

Brewer's Blackbirds forage mostly on the ground, walking rather than hopping, and readily gather in flocks in open areas including parking lots and picnic areas where they take advantage of food scraps alongside their natural diet of insects, seeds, and grain.

Voice

The song is a short, harsh, creaky note, often described as unmusical, while calls include a sharp "check" note.

Nesting

Nests are bulky cups built in shrubs, low trees, or occasionally on the ground, sometimes in loose colonies. Females lay 3-7 eggs, and both parents help feed the young.