Red-winged Blackbird

This is a Red-winged Blackbird and I think I'm right in saying that it's a female, not a juvenile? Could be wrong, though, as I find it difficult to tell which is which. Amazing how different the females are from the jet black males with with their red wing patches. I always remember the very first time I saw a female, quite a few years ago, and I thought I was looking at some kind of Sparrow, ha. Photo was taken on 28 June 2014, when I went for a drive along some of the backroads SW of the city.

"One of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. In the North, their early arrival and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring.

You can find Red-winged Blackbirds in the breeding season by visiting cattail marshes and other wetlands, or simply by watching telephone wires on a drive through the country. Where there’s standing water and vegetation, Red-winged Blackbirds are likely to be one of the most common birds you see and hear. Listen for the male’s conk-la-lee! song. In winter, search through mixed-species blackbird flocks and be careful not to overlook the streaky, brown females, which can sometimes resemble a sparrow." From AllAboutBIrds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-winged_blackbird

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Thursday, 2 April 2015: after beautiful morning weather, it has just started snowing heavily! Sounds as if there might be a bit of rain or hail mixed in with the snow. I'm so glad I decided to sleep as long as possible this morning instead of going for a drive outside the city! So, back to winter once again.