Red-winged Blackbird
(Agelaius phoeniceus) Y |
 |
RANGE: Breeds from the southern tip of Alaska, and Yukon down to
northern Washington, across the northern part of the United
States and Canada including Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, the Great
Lakes, and New England. Resident in the rest of the United
States south into Baja California, Mexico, and Central America.
Northern birds migrate southward in winter.
STATUS: Abundant.
HABITAT: Breeds in marshes and agricultural areas, usually where
there are wetlands and also along the edge of hayfields, old
fields, and pastures. Prefers areas with trees nearby and where
habitat edges are abundant; often perches on old erect
vegetation. Is extremely territorial, partitioning territories
into areas of several hundred square feet, thus efficiently
limiting the numbers that can exploit a resource. Flocks in the
winter and moves throughout fields and marshy areas.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Standing vegetation along open
fields and marshes. Strongest nesting habitat association
along the edges of freshwater marsh.
NEST: Nests in a deep narrow cup of grass, reeds, and weed
rootlets, usually attached to emergent vegetation (particularly
cattails) up to 12 feet above ground. Also nests in weeds and
brush patches, croplands such as alfalfa and cereal grains, even
upland areas of mixed chaparral.
FOOD: Consumes a diet consisting of both vegetable and animal
material, including a variety of grains and seeds, insects,
spiders, mites, and snails. Often descends in large numbers on
cultivated fields, eating a great deal of the grain.
REFERENCES: Adamus et al. 2001, Albers 1978, Beal 1900, Case and
Hewitt 1963, Lowe and Mansell 1983, Miller 1999, Mott et al.
1972, Orians 1961, Payne 1969, Shunk 2004. |
