From Opus

Agelaius tricolor

Male
Photo by Forcreeks
Lindo Lake, Lakeside, California, February 2004

[edit] Identification

L. 7-9 1/2" (18-24 cm) Male: Black with bright red shoulder patches (epaulettes), bordered by white below
Female & Immature: Heavily streaked with dusky brown

[edit] Similar Species

Red-winged Blackbird which has yellow below the red shoulder patch.

Female
Photo by Marysan
San Diego, California, March 2005

[edit] Distribution

Southern Oregon south to Baja California. Apparently overshoots occasionally to Washington.

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

[edit] Habitat

Marshes, swamps, and wet and dry meadows; pastures as long as there is any kind of water nearby.

[edit] Behaviour

After the breeding season, the birds gather with other blackbirds in flocks, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands. At this time, the blackbirds are often considered pests because they consume grain in cultivated fields; however, farmers benefit because the birds consume harmful insects during the nesting season.

[edit] Breeding

Nesting: 3-5 pale blue eggs, spotted and scrawled with dark brown and purple, in a well-made cup of marsh grass or reeds, attached to growing marsh vegetation or built in a bush in a marsh. Each pair raises two or three broods a season, building a new nest for each clutch.

[edit] Vocalisation

A rich, musical o-ka-leeee!

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.

• List of references

[edit] External Links