Bird Directory

Red-winged Blackbird	Bird Name: Red-winged Blackbird
	Field Marks: The Red-winged Blackbird, named for its coloring, is smaller than a robin. The male has glossy black feathers with red epaulets on his wings. The female has a heavily streaked brest on its brown body. Look for a light eye stripe. The Red-winged Blackbird has a bill that is long and sharply pointed.
	Feeder Food: Mixed seeds
	Natural Food: Seeds, grain, insects, snails, berries, fruit
	Behavior: It is easy to spot the Red-winged Blackbird because of the red patches on its wings. He uses these in the spring to help attract females and warn other males to stay away. Outside of breeding season you will see this bird traveling in flocks. It is one of the first birds to arrive in the spring. Song: konk-a-ree, a long whistle, loud check

Pictures were reproduced by permission.

Sources:

Alden, Peter and Brian Cassie, National Audubon Society Feild Guide To New England, New York: Alfred A.Knopf, 1998.

Dawe, Neil and Karen, The Bird Book, New York: Workman Publishing, 1988.

Forbush, Edward Howe, Birds of Massachusetts, Norwood, Massachusetts: Norwood Press, 1929.

Reed, Chester R., Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies, Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1951.

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