Brewer's Blackbird

Euphagus cyanocephalus

Iridescent purple-and-green parking-lot dignitary. Walks like it owns the place because it does.

Population: ~15-25 million mature individuals (secondary estimate ~23 million, Partners in Flight), declining
Habitat: Open and semi-open, often human-modified landscapes — urban parks, cemeteries, residential lawns, utility corridors, farmland/agricultural areas, parking lots, marshes, wetlands, and pastures, frequently near water; does not normally occur in forest; ranges from below sea level in Southern California up to roughly 8,000-10,000 ft elevation
Fun fact: Brewer's Blackbird was uplisted from Least Concern to Near Threatened after Breeding Bird Survey and eBird trend data showed steep, poorly understood population declines (roughly 12-24% over the past decade, and by some counts over half since the 1960s) despite the species thriving in human-altered habitats like parking lots and farmland.
Range: Western and central North America, breeding across Canada and the western/central United States (with an ongoing eastward range expansion into the Great Lakes region), wintering/non-breeding south into the southern US and Mexico
Diet: Omnivorous — mainly insects (weevils, cutworms, grasshoppers, caterpillars) and seeds/grains, plus berries, foraged often in shallow water or fields; occasionally catches insects in flight and takes small vertebrates or other birds' nestlings
Size: 0.23 m
Wingspan: 0.39 m
Lifespan: 12 years

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