Did You Know...Red-Winged Blackbird?

Appearance: The Red-winged Blackbird is a medium-sized songbird found in wetland areas. The male is black with bright red and yellow shoulders, while the female looks pale with brown feathers and stripes all over. The adult male can hide the brilliant red shoulders or show them off in a dazzling display. Habitat: The range of red-winged blackbirds extends from southern Alaska at its northern most point, to the Yucatan peninsula in the south and covers the greater part of the continent reaching from the Pacific coast of California and Canada to the eastern seaboard. Nesting: The female Red-winged Blackbird lays 3 to 4 eggs. She incubates the eggs up to 11 days until they hatch. The eggs are pale blue-green with dark streaks and splotches. The nest is an open cup woven of grass or marsh vegetation and wet leaves. It's filled with dried mud and lined with fine grass. The nests are woven between several stems, typically over water in a marsh area often surrounded by cattails and tall grass.The Red-winged Blackbird is a highly polygamous species, with one male having up to 15 different females making nests in his territory.

• A male fiercely defends his territory during the breeding season.

• Some birds may travel as far as 80 km (50 mi) between the roosting and feeding sites.

• In the wild, red-winged blackbirds live an average of 2 years.

• The oldest recorded red-winged blackbird in the wild lived for 15 years and 9 months.