Blackbird Singing in the Afternoon

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As you can hear in the video, the Red-Winged Blackbird has a distinctive call with a metallic quality to it. The males are mostly black but have bright red-yellow feathers on the side of the wings. These red feathers unfurl into red-yellow "flags" when the bird spreads its wings, which for this species tends to average 28-35 cm. The females have a more light brown stripey complexion and their plumage is less conspicuous than their male counterparts (Bird, 2016).

A group of blackbirds is called a cloud or a grind

Looking for seeds brought by the hoomans

"Watcha looking at?"

A feast on the pier

Blackbirds love wetlands with tall grasses, reeds, and cattails. They live their meadowy lives in bowl nests with great views of the marshy action around and plenty of insects, fruits, and seeds to spice up their suburban living. According to Bird (2016), the blackbirds lay 1-2 broods of 3-4 eggs each during the months of March through June. So, they have a tight window of time in which to get jiggy with it.

This guy was hanging with both feet spread wide apart as the breeze swayed the branch. Impressive.

Young lady feeding seeds to a blackbird while photographer ruins the shot by focusing on grass.

Male blackbird keeping an eye out. The lookout tower is seen in the background. Very appropriate.

Resource

David M. Bird. 2016. Birds of Canada