Wild Bird Wednesday 632 - Red-Winged Blackbird

The Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is an abundant bird across much of North and Central America. Across its whole range its total population may be as many 250 million in peak years. I saw this bird in Ontario, Canada, at the end of 2023.

As you can see from the pictures, this bird is feeding on seeds and 'bird food' placed on the fence next to a boardwalk.  The boardwalk passes through an area of wetlands which is a classic habitat for this species.

The male Red-Winged Blackbird is about 23 cm in length, while the female are smaller, at 17 or 18 cm in length. 

A small, but not unimportant part of my enjoyment at seeing these birds is that they feature in the opening paragraphs of one of my favourite books.

'There’s a red-winged blackbird.

I whack Chris’s knee and point to it.

"What!" he hollers.

"Blackbird!"

He says something I don’t hear."What?" I holler back.

He grabs the back of my helmet and hollers up, "I’ve seen lots of those, Dad!"

"Oh!" I holler back. Then I nod. At age eleven you don’t get very impressed with red-winged blackbirds.'

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig, 1974. 

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