Blackbird WESTERN BIRDS 



GENUS AGELAIUS: RED-WINGED 

 BLACKBIRD. 



Red-Winged Blackbird: Agelaius phoeniceus phceni- 



ceus. 



FAMILY— BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



One of the most familiar birds of the eastern United 

 States is the Red-winged Blackbird which ranges east of 

 the Great Plains, except the Gulf States and Florida, 

 wintering mainly south of Ohio and the Delaware 

 valleys. 



Banded together in large flocks they spend their win- 

 ters in the south, coming north in March, where they 

 build their nests in marshes, swamps, and meadows. 



The males are about nine and one-half inches long 

 and are a brilliant black, except for bright red shoulder 

 patches which are edged with buffy-white, making them 

 showy birds. The females are nearly two inches shorter 

 and so different that one would never mistrust that they 

 belonged with the black males. The crown is brown 

 and cream striped; the upper parts are brown, streaked 

 with light, and the breast whitish streaked with brown. 

 Altogether a most streaked bird. The young resemble 

 the female. In the fall when nesting duties are over, 

 the males gather in one flock, and the females and young 

 in another, so that one unfamiliar with this habit might 

 be puzzled to know what they were. 



Like other Blackbirds they are gregarious and nest in 

 colonies. Reeds and cat-tails are favorite sites, but 

 bushes and low trees are also used when in marshy 

 localities. 



The nest is beautifully made of grasses, or like mate- 

 rial, and attached to the upright reeds a few feet above 

 the water. The inside is lined with finer fibers. In 



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