Bird Migration and Red-Winged Blackbirds

As the weather becomes warmer, many birds migrate to the Northern Hemisphere for the abundance of nesting locations and newly budding plants. The primary reason why so many birds migrate in the spring is to reach their breeding grounds.

The red-winged blackbird is one of the early bird migrators and a common sign of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. In Ohio Specifically, red-winged black birds can overwinter and stay year-round. The ones that do migrate often migrate in large flocks, males arriving before females in order to scout out the best area to have a nest to impress the females.

These birds often make their nests in cattail marshes. Otherwise they also look for nesting sites near streams in wooded areas or wet swamps and fields. These birds prefer to nest close together in small groups, becoming territorial towards other species of birds at times. Because they nest in dense habitat, they leave their nests to forage in open habitats for seeds and occasionally insects.

Male and female red-winged blackbirds look quite different from each other. The males, the easiest to identify, are stocky, broad-shouldered black birds with a slender bill. They have a red shoulder patch bordered in yellow. Females are brown with streaks and a yellowish wash around the bill.

Female: https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/3/female-red-winged-blackbird-matthew-alberts.jpg
Male: https://indianaaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/RedWingedBlackbird2.jpg

Click this link to listen to them! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwlufAVDtSM

Get outside and document the birds you see this spring on campus. Many birds still have yet to migrate to Ohio but will be very soon. Show us what you see!

Posted on 25 de março de 2021, 03:02 PM by wasilewskie1