Red-winged Blackbird Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A stocky, broad-shouldered blackbird with a slender, conical bill and a medium-length tail. Red-winged Blackbirds often show a hump-backed silhouette while perched; males often sit with tail slightly flared.

  Relative Size

  About three-quarters the size of a Common Grackle

  robin-sized

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 6.7-9.1 in (17-23 cm)
    • Weight: 1.1-2.7 oz (32-77 g)
    • Wingspan: 12.2-15.8 in (31-40 cm)

  © Phil Kahler / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Male Red-winged Blackbirds are hard to mistake. They're an even glossy black with red-and-yellow shoulder badges. Females are crisply streaked and dark brownish overall, paler on the breast and often show a whitish eyebrow.

• Behavior

  Male Red-winged Blackbirds do everything they can to get noticed, sitting on high perches and belting out their conk-la-ree! song all day long. Females stay lower, skulking through vegetation for food and quietly weaving together their remarkable nests. In winter Red-winged Blackbirds gather in huge flocks to eat grains with other blackbird species and starlings.
• Habitat

  Look for Red-winged Blackbirds in fresh and saltwater marshes, along watercourses, water hazards on golf courses, and wet roadsides, as well as drier meadows and old fields. In winter, you can find them at crop fields, feedlots, and pastures.

Regional Differences

There’s subtle variation in Red-winged Blackbirds across the country. The most obvious race is the “bicolored blackbird” of coastal California, which shows no yellow border on the red shoulders.

Regional Photos

© Phil Kahler / Macaulay LibraryOregon, May 13, 2017

© David Trescak / Macaulay LibraryQuebec, March 05, 2017

© Steve Kelling / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, February 19, 2016

© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, April 03, 2016