This is one of the funnest parts of spring — to watch the male red-winged blackbirds establish their territories. Our favorite place to go is a cattail marsh that seems to be prime blackbird real estate. The older males lead the charge, finding perches on the cattails to make their displays. Look at those red wing-markings fluff up!
It’s all about making a lot of noise and intimidating postures — the red-winged blackbirds don’t usually don’t get into actual fights.
The females haven’t even arrived yet at the marsh we go to — it’s just the males deciding amongst themselves who gets to command what territory. You can see these displays for yourself if you walk along stream-edges or venture out to the wetlands. And once the red-winged blackbirds start nesting, they get extremely brave and aggressive — you might even get dive-bombed!
The red-winged blackbirds are only one of the many animals who are doing especially fascinating things during the spring. Wooly-bears are just crawling out into the sunlight, insects are emerging from winter slumbers, and the turkeys are beginning to gobble in the hills and fields. It’s a perfect time to get out and see if you can spot the first spider, butterfly, or new shoot poking up from the ground.
Happy Spring!
Posted on March 19th, 2009 by Rebecca Whitman
Filed under: Birds
We had our first Red-wing in the yard yesterday. But we live on the western edge of Chicago, so it’s a little different: http://neighborhoodnature.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/backyard-parakeets-and-more/
Welcome to Nature Blog Network! I added you to our blog roll.
Eric
Eric — Thanks for adding us to your blog roll — we’ve visited your site and have added you to ours as well. We just fell in love with your blog — all the adventures your family has! And we especially loved the Collectors’ Garden. Thanks for connecting!