Euphagus carolinus
female
The Rusty Blackbird is a pale-eyed, slender-billed songbird. The sexes are dissimilar. Summer adult males are uniformly blackish, with a green sheen seen in good light. In fall, adult males have rusty brown feather margins over much of the body; these wear away by late winter to reveal pristine black feathers. Summer adult females are dark gray-brown overall, darkest on the cap, wings, and tail. In fall, adult females have rusty-brown edges to many feathers, especially on the head and back; these wear away in time. Immatures are similar to their respective winter adults.
The Rusty Blackbird is present in its northern breeding range mainly from May to September. It spends the rest of the year in southeast U.S.A. The species is probably easiest to see in the winter months.
breeding male
1st-winter male
Rick & Nora Bowers/Alamy Stock Photo: Rusty Blackbird 1st winter.
FACT FILE
LENGTH 9 in (23 cm)
FOOD Mainly seeds, with invertebrates in spring and summer
HABITAT Northern boggy forests in summer; open woodland and wetland margins in winter
STATUS Fairly common, but numbers have declined catastrophically in recent decades
VOICE Song includes a series of chuckling, chattering phrases, and ends with a whistle. Call is a soft tchuk
