Bird of the Week – Rusty Blackbird
Some years ago, Mrs. WC got a telephone call from a lady who reported there were a lot of “baby Ravens” in her yard. After careful questioning, Mrs. WC established they were Rusty Blackbirds which, after all, are nearly black, even if they don’t otherwise resemble Common Ravens very much, and “baby Ravens” not at all.
Rusty Blackbird, Shaw Creek Flats, Alaska
Joking aside, Rusty Blackbirds are a species in trouble. Their populations have declined catastrophically. Data from long-term surveys like the North American Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Counts suggest that Rusty Blackbird numbers have plummeted a staggering 85-95% since the mid-1900’s. It’s likely some combination of loss of winter habitat, loss of breeding habitat and competition, especially from Common grackles. But the science is uncertain.
A true specialist of the boreal forest, they like swampy areas, muskeg and sluggish streams. The male’s call is an unmusical rusty hinge sound. In the autumn, mixed flocks of Rusty and Red-winged Blackbirds move through the forest, eating berries and bugs, fueling up for migration south. And creating telephone calls about “baby Ravens.”
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That is a startling and disheartening decline. I’ll cross my fingers that they pull up and out of it. I wonder if there are any programs devoted to increasing their numbers in captivity?
I gather this bird,of which I have never heard of, gets it’s name from its call and not from the slate grey,catbird colored pelage. Why do blackbirds eyes seem to stand out more than other birds?