Scientific Name:   Agelaius phoeniceus

Length:   6.7-9.1 in (17-23 cm)

Weight:   1.1-2.7 oz (32-77 g)

Wingspan:   12.2-15.8 in (31-40 cm)

Nest:   The nest is in marsh growth such as cattails or bulrushes, in bushes or saplings close to water, or in dense grass in fields. It is built as an bulky open cup, lashed to standing vegetation, made of grass, reeds, leaves, rootlets, lined with fine grass.

Eggs:   3-4, rarely 2-6. Pale blue-green, with markings of black, brown, purple concentrated at larger end. Incubation is by female only, 10-12 days.

Feeding Behavior:   It feeds primarily on plant materials, including seeds from weeds and grain such as corn and rice, about a quarter of its diet consists of insects and other small animals. It prefers insects, such as dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies, moths, and flies, but also consumes snails, frogs, eggs, carrion, worms, spiders and mollusks. It looks for food mostly while walking on ground; also sometimes up in shrubs and trees.

Young:   Both parents feed nestlings (but female does more). Young leave nest about 11-14 days after hatching.

Range:   The red-winged blackbird is widely spread throughout North America, except in the arid desert, high mountain ranges, and arctic or dense afforestation regions. It breeds from central-eastern Alaska and Yukon in the northwest, and Newfoundland in the northeast, to northern Costa Rica in the south, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Northern populations migrate to the southern United States, but those that breed there, in Mexico, and in Central America are sedentary.

Brief Description:   The common name for the red-winged blackbird is taken from the mainly black adult male's distinctive red shoulder patches, or epaulets, which are visible when the bird is flying or displaying. At rest, the male also shows a pale yellow wingbar. The spots of males less than one year old, generally subordinate, are smaller and more orange than those of adults. The female is blackish-brown and paler below.