Family:
The red-winged blackbird is one of the most abundant species of birds in North America. It is a stocky bird with a long tail and a slender, conical bill. The species exhibits significant sexual dimorphism in both plumage and size, with males being approximately 50% heavier than females.
The male has black plumage with a red shoulder patch bordered by yellow. In winter, his feathers show rusty edges. His eyes, bill, and legs are black. The female has streaked brown upperparts and heavily marked brown and white underparts that are paler on the breast. She has a yellowish wash around the bill, a white stripe through the eye, a small patch of pink on the shoulders, and a bill that is brown on the upper mandible and pale grey on the lower mandible.
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Red-winged blackbirds feed primarily on seeds from weeds and crops. They also eat insects such as dragonflies, butterflies, moths, and flies, as well as snails, worms, spiders, small frogs, eggs, and carrion.
During the winter they supplement their diet with berries, and often visit gardens for suet and birdseed mixes.
The red-winged blackbird is found across most of North America except for dry deserts, very high altitudes, and arctic regions. It inhabits open grassy areas, saltwater and freshwater marshes, meadows, prairies, and old fields. Northern populations migrate south for the winter, where they can be found in crop fields and pastures.
