Boolie’s Blog

Red-wings spend a lot of effort raising their young, from when they start staking out their territory, defending their nest, to feeding the hatchlings.

This is the reason for all that effort, a fledgling that flew a few feet from the nest, paused for a few seconds, then flew right back to the safety of the nest.

Like with many species of birds, both male and female hatchlings resemble the adult female in coloration, but one look at the over-sized eyes and beak tells you this youngster hasn’t been out and about for long.

When the young are born, male red-wings spend less time vocalizing from the tops of the cattails and more time on the ground gathering food for their little ones.

This male had gathered a mouthful of caterpillars but still couldn’t resist the urge to call out before popping down into the nest. He kept his mouth closed and didn’t extend his body like he usually would have, so I was surprised at how loud the call was.

While her mate was singing from the tops of the cattails, this female red-winged blackbird was often out of sight down in her nest.

When anything flew into her airspace, however, she popped right up and chased off the intruders. It didn’t matter if they meant her or her eggs any harm, everything from yellowthroats to wrens to sparrows to yellow-headed blackbirds got the heave ho. I spent many hours watching her little patch of the marsh and had to work quickly to get photographs of the other birds before she’d chase them off.

I found the deference shown by the yellow-headed blackbirds the most curious as they were physically larger. They’d fly over to sing, she’d immediately go after them, they’d give her a bewildered look before heading back to the quieter interior of the marsh. After a few weeks of getting hassled, one male yellow-head did return the fight and they squabbled in the air for a while. I thought the larger bird would win over the female red-wing, but her wingman (her mate) joined the fray and the yellow-head retreated to safety.

The first step to raising young is to stake out your territory and find a mate. Male red-wings get an early start, both in the time of the year and the time of day. Even before winter has yielded to spring, the males at Ridgefield can be seen singing from the cattails in all kinds of weather. Arrive at sunrise when the refuge opens and the males will already be up to greet you in song.

These images were taken a week apart during May, one on a sunny morning and the other on a cloudy morning, I like both for different reasons.

One last redwing close-up and I promise I’ll move on, I didn’t catch him singing but I like the pose and the colors. He was not only defending his territory at this point but also actively feeding his hatchlings (soon to be fledglings), so he wasn’t staying still for long.