Saturday March 4th - Rusty Blackbird

 

Saturday March 4th – Rusty Blackbird

          We went to the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area to look for a Northern Shrike which had been seen there the previous day.  We walked the Estuary Trail looking for the shrike without success.  It was a nice day, so we decided to walk the boardwalk.  It was pretty quiet, but we did manage to hear and see a Rusty Blackbird although it was well concealed in the underbrush.

          A Rusty Blackbird is a medium-sized blackbird with a slender bill and a medium-length tail.  In winter, male Rusty Blackbirds have rusty feather edges and a pale yellow eye.  They are often seen in mixed flocks with Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds and European Starlings.

          Unfortunately, the Rusty Blackbird population is rapidly declining, and scientists are not sure what has caused this.  They breed in the boreal forest and winter in the eastern United States. Their song consists of two or three notes, followed by a higher, rising note that sounds like the creak of a rusty gate.

           

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