Red-winged Blackbirds

Sure, they are usually seen in flocks overhead, and in large fields... Yet when winter comes, they can be seen anywhere there is an ample amount of their favorite seeds. They seem to me always on the move though..making their rounds.

In summertime you can drive just west of here and over the tracks and at the same time every morning you can see them flowing over the fields. It looks like a huge black sheet made of silk flowing in waves. I can't explaine what I see in all that!! Yes, it leaves even me, speechless. LOL! (Just for about 15 minutes....)

Here is a she of the Red-winged Blackbird>

A few more...

A few more still..

Right after this they all flew away.. They left plenty for the regular feeder birds, not to worry..

Debness,

Here in the east, there are 4 different birds that all fall in the caregory of "Black Birds". The Red-winged blackbird is one of them. The others are the Starling, the Purple Grackle and the Cowbird, which has a brown head. They all swoop down en mass and fly away the same way and all are ravenous creatures.

I have about 3 feeders up all winter (What winter--this year??). We get all kinds of birds.

Funny thing--I have not seen any Mockingbirds for years! They used to be all over the place! Years ago, they would sit on our TV antennas on the roof and sing away. Gone??? Where" ??
Why??
I have been here 37 years and this area has been "obscenelly" developed on and on, but we still have that "country" development look here in my neighborhood.

Does anyone know why all the Mockingbirds have vanished???

Gita

Gitagal, I am hearing you with missing a favorite bird (or 2). I think you said it with

And what is the favorite food of Mockingbirds????

Gita

Just FYI... starlings are not blackbirds ( :>

Debnes, those are great pictures. I haven't seen a female RWB, but then I hadn't looked it up to realize they were so much different! I have seen the males in the reeds alone the creek near us where they sometimes nest, but I don't go down there much. Thanks for sharing.

These here seem to like the mealies... And they cant resist dried Marichino Cherries..

I am so glad you posted these photos debnes. I have seen this bird (female red wing) but couldn't figure out what it was. BINGO - now I know! I ted to get them when they are migrating too.

Gitagal, we have mocking birds here and some years we have more of them than others. I do remember that one year it seemed like they vanished. I don't know why that happens. It seems like each summer is a little different as far as our bird population goes. I tend to think of my summers as the summer of the wrens, mockers or whatever is the most plentiful that year. Last year was a low one for hummers in this area. Many of my neighbors thought it might have been due to loss from the fall hurricanes during their fall migration. I bet your mockers will gradually return.

I have found that mockingbirds really love trees and srubs with berries. About 7 years ago I planted a lot of these around the yard and am now reaping the benefits! I posted photos of most of them in another thread. I highly recommend doing this not only for the food but the shelter too.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/682674/

Your right lilyfan, Mockingbirds like to eat berries and such right off the trees.. So that is another thing developments in some areas don't have. More and more people are choosing plants that 'look pretty' and arent messy or attract what the deem as 'pests'. For the rest a lot of pesticides and herbicides are used. Mockingbirds are super intelligent birds..
My yard is an ecosystem, I don't use any chemicals that harm anything. I grow plants for butterflies, they all have to be free of those things. The birds find me in the middle of this sub-division because of the ecology here in this patch of land I keep.

Gita, I can see how one would clump the Starlings with other blackbirds, they sort of flock in the same circles.. but not classified the same as magpied mentioned...:-) Though they are 'black' and they are 'birds', so it would be an easy observation to make.

:-SSmiles

I have also found that Mockingbirds love it when you offer them fruit. I cut old oranges and apples in half and poke them onto a branch or even onto the end of a shephard's hook. They also love raisins.

Deb,

Where do you find dried Marichino Cherries?

Marilyn

lilyfan,
Wild Bird Center a block away from me... http://www.wildbird.com
(I would like to find a lower price on them though.)

Right Marilyn they like fruit a lot, some are more picky about what kind than others. This would be a good time of year to get some sort of bird berrie plant that would ripen in fall too..

I had a mockingbird at my last house here in Cincinnati. That yard had a cherry tree and a plum tree. The cherry tree was quite a mess after all the critters (bird and human varieties) had their share of cherries, but well worth it in terms of beauty, good fruit, and the variety of birds that visited. The birds seem to like their cherries less ripe than I do, so we often had to put pie pans out to get our share of the cherries. The one year that the birds ignored it was the year AFTER the 17 year cicadas came. Seemed like the birds were still looking towards the ground for all those juicy bugs.

Debnes, your pictures are great! Those blackbirds are my very favorite birds! I was stunned when I first saw them. I Belgium we only have regular blackbirds, and they are not as black and shiny, and they are quit a bit bigger.
Thanks for sharing those lovely photo's!
Christie

Your welcome Christi!
First time I saw them here my son remembers. He was mentioning it yesterday.. Several years ago, we were at a red light on the other side of the tracks over there by the fields, and I looked to the right and there it was. I said, "Wow Kirby, that's a Red-winged Blackbird! Get my camera quick!" It was perched on one of those tall Sunflowers there...I took a really bad picture, but it made our day..LOL! It was one of those moments your glad to have a camera with you. It's always with me.. Just in case. When I can figure in time for stopping to take pictures no matter where I go..
Has anyone ever heard the quote, something like 'Stop and smell the flowers along the way..' ?? For me it is stop and take a picture along the way.. .. true!!!.

Here is one from a drive out to DS house north of here.. The light was not so good when I went around to see him from the front.. When I got there I found myself facing the sun behind him....ay carumba, LUCY!!! Next time!!
I believe this is a Red-tailed Hawk>

great shots Deb. Thankfully I don't get many RWBB here. At the old place I used to get 150 a day that wiped out all my feeders daily, also got abot 50 to 75 Brown-headed cowbirds with them. What a mess

Thanks Donna,
I really don't get many RWBB or Cowbirds at all. I think they are more aprehensive around tight little neighborhoods like this. If a lot of anything comes in at once, I gently tap on the window and all scatter except, Kinglet, Warbler, and Doves.. A few sparrows just move deeper into the rosebush for a minute, then everyone comes back except the transient flock.
A Hawk got one of the sparrows today.. I had just set up the tripod and aimed it through the window to aim out all the prospective areas where certain birds alight. I went away for a little bit and came back to silence, an erie dead silence. Then I looked up through the window, and straight out on the back fence was the SShawk with it's prize. It took it a while to eat.

When finished it moved down on the fence, wiped it's beak, and it looked like naptime.. Hawk just fluffed up and perched there on the middle of the back fence..
Figured that was a good time to take my dog outside....lol. I don't mind the Hawk here, I just don't want him to set up and get too comfortable in that spot.


My pics arent the greatest, but they are getting better, lol.

Good capture deb!!

Thats one handsome hawk!

Thx pelle!
I had a lot of pics of hansome there, lol.. Going to be hard to know which ones keep on disk.. I took 2 mini movies too, feathers flying, hawk plucking and looking up.. I made all kinds of weird noises and it just went about eating lunch. I left the cam on when I took Itty out so I could get it flying away, and I did... Maxed out my memory a few second after hawk flew away.. There were 386 pics on the stick including two-2+ min movies. I will probably keep only about 10 or so.. and put the rest on a CD. Same thing with all the other birds....pictures take up so much HD room on the comp!

:-D

I know what you mean deb, I've been gradually getting all mine onto discs. Nice pic.

Thx pelle!
I liked that last one of RW..It really shows his face well...

It does, nice pic!

Love the hawk pictures and the turtle dove,sparrow, and red winged blackbird picture. Sometimes late winter after my feeders have been out a long time and I have regular birds at my feeder I will attract an occasional hawk who makes a quick visit wanting a quick bird snack. We have timber nearby and they are probably watching my feeders more than I realize.

Cuckoo

Thx & Yep Cukoo, the Hawks are probably there somewere.

o/~

My feeders are full of birds this morning since we had a nice snowfall overnight. So happy I filled them up yesterday morning. Often looking into the timber near the edge you will see a hawk perched just waiting for a mouse, bird, etc. to catch. They soon learn about all the birds at our feeders. I use to think they would'nt bother the birds near our house but that's not true. I have seen them temporarily perch for a few moments on our deck! Only if I had my new camera and was ready to snap off a picture!!

Cuckoo

I like the springtime here in Maryland for the Red-winged Blackbirds. The male sits on a branch, ruffles his feathers and sings away, oblivious to the people around him. It's that time of the year when their red and yellow colors are most expressive.

GORGEOUS pic Linth!!

Really sweet linth! Thanks for the pic! The RWBB bright colors really can liven up all the brown.

Right Cukoo, hawks are very wise ...... One had the nerve to come really close to survey my view from the window here. Just a few feet away from me. I thought it was very bold of him.

Older and younger male plumage>

You know when spring is coming to n. Missouri when you begin to see the beautiful Redwinged Blackbirds arrive. Often you will see them on cattails near low wettier areas. For a very short time I may see a few at my feeders or a tree nearby wondering what all the other birds are up. I 'm sure they may nest in these scattered areas of cattails because you will see them there often.

Cuckoo

They're showing up a bit early out here in the PNW - I saw/heard one a couple days ago. I think it's usually more like late February or early March before they show up and I usually see them first when I ride around the golf course with DH. They're are some marshes there that they really like, however, I saw one at my own feeders this time. Beautiful bird and I love their song.

They are here all year...

Juvenile male RWBB. :-)

Nice pic deb!!

Thx pelle,
I am only getting a few at a time these days... this one was really big.

I would like to (finally) show you a picture of the Wintersweet Bush in bloom. I took a real, real close-up of the blooms (they are so tiny!) and it turned out great.

I have been gone with knee surgery and am now back home.
These were taken about 3 weeks ago when we were still in the warm spell.

Here's the whole bush in bloom. The flowers are right up against the stems. Then these grow into big seed pods by Fall. Each one holds about 2-3 large seeds, about the size of a black Sunflower kernel. As I said, I have plenty--you just have to be patient as this shrub can only be propagated from seed and it takes about 5-6 years until it will bloom.

Here's the bush.