Red-winged Blackbird

Adult males are glossy black with bright red and yellow shoulder patches (epaulets). Females are heavily streaked with brown and white, resembling large sparrows. Immature males are dark and streaky with orange-red shoulders.

Conical bill, glossy black body, and the signature red-and-yellow shoulder patches (epaulets).

Length: 17-24 cm (6.7-9.4 in); Wingspan: 31-40 cm (12-16 in); Weight: 32-77 g (1.1-2.7 oz).

A distinct, gurgling 'conk-la-ree!' song; calls include a sharp, liquid 'check' and a high-pitched 'teer'.

Mostly insects during summer (beetles, caterpillars, spiders) and seeds or grains during winter.

Freshwater and saltwater marshes, wet meadows, hayfields, and along water-filled ditches.

Resident in southern and western US; migratory in northern regions, moving south during the winter in huge flocks.

Females build cup-shaped nests in cattails, grasses, or shrubs over water. Clutch size is 2-4 eggs. They are highly polygynous; one male may have up to 15 mates.

Tricolored Blackbird (red patch is darker with a white border instead of yellow) and Bicolored Blackbird (lacks the yellow border).

Controls insect populations and acts as a food source for larger predators; their nesting habits are indicator species for wetland health.

Least Concern (IUCN); population is large though experiencing some long-term declines due to habitat loss.

Look for them in marshes, wet roadsides, or perched on cattails. In winter, they form massive mixed flocks with other blackbird species in open fields.

The male Red-winged Blackbird can spend more than half his day during the breeding season defending his territory and singing to attract mates.