Bird Watching: Brazos Bend ROCKS!, 1 by rntx22

rntx22 wrote:
Here is one that I am excited to have seen. I didn't even realize it was anything special at the time, just another blackbird. But since it looked different than the grackles and blackbirds I'm used to, I got a picture.

Later in the day I ran in to a group of birders. I asked if they had spotted a vermilion flycatcher yet (they hadn't, but were also looking for it!) and one man asked me if I had spotted a rusty blackbird. I wasn't even sure what that was, so he showed me in his guide and I recognized it instantly as the bird I had seen earlier. Unfortunately for them, it had been several hours since I spotted them.

Apparently these birds are in trouble and populations have been declining since the 60's. It is on the Audubon watch list.

I'm pretty sure the female is the browner one, and the male is the blackish one (although both sexes have some of the rusty feathers over winter).