This species is perhaps the most abundant bird of North America but some of its members go unrecognized by many novice birders and photographers.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I photographed this bird a year ago today at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. Do you recognize it? In my experience from being in the field with other photographers and posting photos of this bird on my blog, many do not (although seasoned birders should have no trouble with it).
A hint is provided by the habitat – cattails.
This is a female Red-winged Blackbird. Females in definitive basic plumage are mottled brown above and heavily streaked below with a prominent eye stripe and pinkish chin and throat. I believe that part of the reason for the difficulties some have with identifying the female is that the sexes are so strongly dimorphic in color and size (males are larger). The male is one of the most easily recognized of all North American birds but the female is so very different from the male that many don’t think to associate the two.
For some this bird would be just another LBJ (little brown job) but I thought she deserves a proper common name…
Ron
Note – for now I’m leaving the tags and categories off of this post because they appear at the bottom of my post email notifications and they would give away the ID. I’ll add them later (if I remember…)
Thanks so much for this post Ron. I have many red-winged black birds that visit my feeders. I knew there had to be females in the mix but I wasn’t very sure what to look for. Looking out my window.now, I see at least six females. It’s always good to learn something new everyday!
They are just as pretty as the male in my book!
I learned a lot today…Including term/concept of polygnous…as different from polygamous…am just a little less dumb and ignorant than before…a good thing!!! Will now slink back under my rock..
Dick–Didn’t know they were polygamous—interesting…You’ll get extra credit for this info…am raising your grade to a C+…keep going….
You’ll get credit for your best answer…the most accurate, most complete one…keep up the good work!!!
Do the males help feed the brooding females and help tsise the babies…or, like Hummingbirds, are the females basically “single” parents? (This is another opportunity for extra credit)….
Well, lets see what I can do here! First, I am NOT an authority, just a birder.
However, Migration – Males migrate in flocks during the day. Males migrates before the female in spring as you already are aware of and after the female in the fall. Here in Vermont the males are still attached to their territory in September and flock up in October. In a study done in Michigan most females began migration in early September shortly after their completion of Prebasic molt without an appreciable increase in fat reserves. (Migrating birds need to build up fat so they have the energy necessary to carry them to their next stop.)
According to Birds of North America No. 184, 1995, by Ken Yasukawa and William A Search, Red-wings are strongly polygynous and as many as 15 females have been found on the territory of 1 male.
Any further information you need I refer you to the above reference.
Please remember this is Ron’s Blog.
Naturally enough I didn’t recognise her. Love her subtle, muted beauty though. And am intrigued that they migrate separately.
I’m sure you wouldn’t recognize her down there in Aussie-land, EC. I thought of you when I used the term “LBJ”.
Different arrival times make me wonder about a couple of things…do they migrate at the same time? Together? Winter in the same place? Just curious…..
“do they migrate at the same time?”
I don’t think so, Patty. Dick says the males arrive on breeding territory earlier than the females and that’s been my observation too.
I know they don’t ARRIVE at their summer breeding grounds at the same time…I’ve always seen the males first, but I was wondering if males and females LEAVE/migrated at the same time and if they fly together or in separate his and her flocks …and if they both went to the same places…or separated for the Winter..reuniting in the Spring (Curiosithy killed the cat and will probably get me someday, too.)..
Patty,
Males are polgynous, averaging three breeding mates during the nesting season. They defend their territory and associate their habitat with how hard they will defend it next year.
To the best of my experience most males associate with males and other blackbirds, e.g. Grackles and Starlings in the winter. Whenever I have seen what I thought was a female 90% of the time it was a first year male, which looks like a dark female. Every so often I might see a female, but I believe they are off. Don’t know whether they are off with other females or other birds that look similar or are of similar sex, e.g. female Yellow-headed Blackbirds.
That is the best I can do for now.
Anwser: D- Work on it…there’ll be a test on Monday….I know you can do better, reread the question…
If, as you say, they are polygamous and defend their territories, their nests, about how far apart from each other are these nests?
The males arrived quite a bit earlier, in an advanced scouting party of mixed blackbird males that included Redwings and Grackles….
I knew her because they have already arrived here…a solid indicator of Spring, though this morning’s cold, strong, winds say otherwise…birds are having a tough time feeding….being blown all over the place…their metabolism rate is so high, they have to try anyway..it aint easy being a bird!!!
Ha ha! Got it!!
I guessed this would be the delightful female red-winged blackbird because I had been stumped for several years by this little trickster!
I kept trying to figure out who this little brown ‘sparrow’ was. Finally figured it out last year and now it’s even more enjoyable when I spot them.
Thanks for the smile!
Solving the problem increases the appreciation, doesn’t it, Suze?
Very nice shot Ron.
Yep, males come first, especially to those areas that represent prime habitat to stake out their territory.
Females come later. It is interesting that males stake out territory that is brown, dead dried grass, still cold and the cattails haven’t shown any new growth yet. But, if a male learned last year what was great habitat or he was successful last year with this habitat, the rewards come later when the male services more females than his neighbor!
Thanks for sharing!
You shared some interesting natural history, Dick. Thanks for doing so.
We rarely see the females at the feeder or just aren’t recognizing them! The males, on the other hand, tend to show up in great numbers and try to take over the feeder! 🙁 They are beautiful but right up there with the Magpies on some days. 🙂 She is beautiful as you caught her and will have to pay more attention to that! 🙂
I see significantly more males too, Judy. I wonder if the sex ratio is even…
Lovely shot. Yes,the females have quite a different look… neither red winged nor black. They arrive in SW Michigan a couple weeks after the males. Pretty bird, and fun to photograph.
Agreed Nancy, I think both sexes are attractive and fun to photograph.
Hey! A fellow SW Michigander! WOO-HOO!
The females showed up at our feeders just this past week. They are so different that I get a little excited that they are something different when they first show up!
Beautiful picture! We have a tendacy to overlook the LBB’s, which is too bad as they are just as fun to watch as their more flashy colored relatives.
I used to overlook them too, Jeff – partly because I couldn’t ID a lot of them.
yep. have them all over our feeders. female rwbb. love your blog btw.
danny
I’m glad you enjoy it, Danny. Thanks.