Rusty Blackbird

Euphagus carolinusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Blackbirds and Orioles (Icteridae)

Rusty Blackbird Fall Adult - The fall adult Rusty Blackbird is brown-black over all with feathers tipped in rust.

Rusty Blackbird Fall Female - The fall female Rusty Blackbird has a gray rump, buff eyebrow, and buff underparts.

Rusty Blackbird - The breeding male Rusty Blackbird is black overall with a dull, blue-green sheen, and yellow eyes.

Rusty Blackbird Breeding Female - The breeding female Rusty Blackbird is dark gray with paler throat and dark eye patch.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Rusty Blackbird

Rusty Blackbird: Medium blackbird, black overall with a dull, blue-green sheen, yellow eyes. Forages on ground of wet woodlands and fields, wades in marshes or small pools of water. Feeds on insects, caterpillars, snails, crustaceans, small fish, salamanders, fruits, grains and seeds.

● Song: "koo-a-lee-m-eek, koo-a-lee-eek", "chuck"

● Foraging & Feeding: Rusty Blackbird: Feeds on insects, snails, small fish, waste grain, and seeds; walks on the ground while foraging.

● Breeding & nesting: Rusty Blackbird: Four to five pale blue-green eggs with brown and gray splotches are laid in a bulky nest woven from twigs and lichens with an inner cup of mud and grass. Eggs are incubated for 14 days by the female.

● Similar species: Rusty Blackbird: Brewer's Blackbird has whiter eyes and glossier plumage; female has dark eyes.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight with deep rapid wing beats.

Rusty Blackbird Breeding Adult Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Rusty Blackbird: Breeds from Alaska across northern Canada to southern Canada, northern New York, and northern New England. Spends winters from southeastern South Dakota and southern New England south to the Gulf Coast. Preferred habitats include beaver ponds, roadsides, landfills, wet meadows, and shrubby shorelines.

^BreedingMonogamous, Pairs

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight2.3 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Rusty Blackbird

Rusty Blackbird

Flight Pattern