![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/red-winged-blackbird-1360-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"red-winged-blackbird-1360-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nLots of folks don’t.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500. Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Red-winged Blackbirds are one of the most abundant bird species in North America and the distinctive males with their glossy black overall plumage and red and yellow wing epaulets are one of the most easily recognized of all of our birds. Most casual observers almost instinctively recognize the males as ‘blackbirds’ of some kind and those red epaulets are such a flashy field mark that narrowing them down to Red-winged Blackbirds is typically an easy task.<\/p>\n But females are another story.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/6400, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Female Red-winged Blackbirds are 50% smaller than males (by weight) and their definitive plumage is far less conspicuous, as illustrated by this female I photographed at Bear River MBR three days ago. Even their behavior is much less conspicuous so they’re less often noticed than males.<\/p>\n Adult females are mottled brown on their dorsal surfaces with a prominent pale eyebrow stripe and a pink to buffy throat.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/6400, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Females have heavily streaked breasts and bellies as illustrated when ‘my’ bird turned on her perch. The legs and feet of adult males are black but in females they’re dark brown or dusky, often appearing ‘blackish’. Males have black bills while the bills of females (and juveniles) tend to be dark brown above and brown to light brown below, with some variation. Juveniles of both sexes resemble females, but are duller.<\/p>\n In my experience there’s another reason why so many folks don’t recognize (or misidentify) female Red-winged Blackbirds. During the breeding season males are highly conspicuous during their incessant, rowdy and noisy displays in the marsh atop elevated perches but females tend to be more skulky, spending much of their time hiding in the reeds. So we tend to see, or at least notice, far more males than we do females.<\/p>\n OK, enough of the ID lesson. But it’s ‘blackbird season’ so I thought a primer on their identification might be useful to some blog followers.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lots of folks don’t.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/red-winged-blackbird-8877b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"red-winged-blackbird-8877b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/red-winged-blackbird-8897b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"red-winged-blackbird-8897b-ron-dudley\\"")
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