Red-winged Blackbird

Agelaius phoeniceus

Males defend cattail kingdoms with scarlet shoulder pads and zero patience. Delivers with attitude.

Population: ~150-210 million individuals globally (BirdLife/Partners in Flight estimate ~210 million mature individuals as of 2009); one of the most abundant landbirds in North America, with breeding pairs exceeding 250 million in peak years and wintering flocks over a million birds
Habitat: Freshwater and saltwater marshes, cattail wetlands, wet meadows, prairies, roadside ditches, agricultural fields, and old fields; also open grassy areas and sparse deciduous woodland edges
Fun fact: Male Red-winged Blackbirds defend their marsh territories by flaring their bright red-and-yellow shoulder patches (epaulets) while singing conk-la-ree from an exposed perch; in one experiment, males whose patches were dyed black lost their territories 64% of the time versus only 8% for undyed control males, demonstrating the epaulets' role as a genuine status signal.
Range: Most of North America and much of Central America, from Alaska and Newfoundland south through the continental US and Mexico to Costa Rica/Guatemala, with year-round populations in the south and migratory populations breeding as far north as Canada
Diet: Omnivorous: mainly seeds, weed seeds, waste grain (corn, rice), with roughly a quarter of the diet made up of insects (beetles, dragonflies, damselflies, moths, flies) plus occasional snails, frogs, eggs, and worms
Size: 0.22 m
Wingspan: 0.35 m
Lifespan: 15.8 years

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