On the tail of last week’s cardinal post, here’s another seasonal regular, the red-winged blackbird. Male red-wings begin to reappear in the northeast in early spring and remain into the autumn; they are denizens of the lake and marsh, building their nests within cattail and reed beds.
The males, such as this dashing example, spend their days proclaiming their territory from whatever raised perch is available to them – in this case a metal dock post and a tree branch. But they will often use cattails, fences, beached boats – whatever is at hand – and from these perches they flash their epaulettes, stick out their necks, and broadcast a loud marker call.
The males aren’t necessarily fearless, but they are bold – when approached they will often abandon their perch, but will move to the next nearby spot that feels safe to them, and will remain territorial from there. In contrast, the female red-wings are a drab mottled brown in color and are much less often seen, remaining within the reeds much of the time.
Two different males are pictured above, the first on the tan background photographed a few weeks before the second. But since these gentlemen were kind enough to show off while calling, I felt the least I could do was grab a portrait!