302 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



EUPHAGUS CYANOCEPHALUS (Wagler) 



Brewer's Blackbird 



Plates 22 and 23 



Contributed by Laidlaw Williams 



HABITS 



At least two proposals have been made to divide this species, using 

 the names E. c. minusculus and E. c. aliastus, but neither of these sub- 

 species has been accepted by the A. O. U. committee on nomenclature. 



As Brewer's blackbird is found in large, conspicuous flocks in open 

 places, often close to human habitations, it is a familiar bird through- 

 out a considerable part of western North America. Although it 

 occurs throughout the year in areas such as farming districts and even 

 in villages and towns, this species also resorts to higher elevations 

 where it nests remote from man. 



The Brewer's blackbird has profited by human alteration of the 

 environment. A large part of its time is spent perching on electric 

 wires, where it rests, preens, calls, displays, and uses the wire as a 

 guard perch during breeding activities. This bird forages extensively 

 on lands that have been converted from brush or forest to pasturage, 

 and on freshly plowed soil; it eats some grain (usually waste); and 

 frequents golf courses, lawns, and irrigated areas. Such advantageous 

 conditions possibly contribute to the increase of this species. Dawson 

 and Bowles (1909) say that in Washington it has profited by human 

 settlement of the land and by the spread of cattle; and Kennedy 

 (1914) says that in the Yakima Valley the bird has "prospered 

 greatly" due to irrigation. Grinnell and Miller (1944) state that, in 

 some areas in California, it "apparently has increased as a result of 

 human occupation of the land." The Brewer's blackbird seems to 

 have been extending its range eastward in recent years, and it has now 

 been recorded as a breeding species in Ontario, eastern Minnesota, 

 Wisconsin, and Illinois. What seems to be the first published record 

 for Ontario, of both occurrence and breeding, was made by Allin and 

 Dear (1947); on June 14, 1945, a male was collected and a nest with 

 young found in a cleared area near Port Arthur. The male was 

 taken in a colony of eight birds, including a brown-eyed female, that 

 occupied 8 acres. Concerning the bird's eastward extension in Minne- 

 sota, Roberts (1932) says that it is "one of several birds that have 

 extended their ranges eastward across the state in comparatively 

 recent years." It has been abundant in the Red River Valley "since 

 the earliest records for that region; the first nesting colonies in the 

 eastern part of the state were discovered at Minneapolis in 1914.* * * 



