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Red wing black birds are back already

13 years ago

The extra warm weather last week appeared to have brought a flock of Red Wing black birds. Usually, they don't arrive in Northern IL until later. I can hear their distinctive calls in the background. They are one of my wife's favorite birds.

My neighbor isn't so fond of them, since he keeps getting attack by them when he's jogging. Unfortunately, they also attack egrets and herons that occasionally show up near our yard.

The duck trio (a single female with two males) appears to be back already. They migrated out back in Dec, but appeared to have returned already.

Paul

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Comments (5)

donald lucius
13 years ago
i had a couple of stray red wings flock with the starlings this winter. But we also had several sunny warm days and yesterday a flock of red wing blackbirds showed up. A hawk must have followed them and got one. Almost all my birds have been hiding since then a small bunch of pine siskins are in the tree but are hiding most of the time in the needles.
jomuir
13 years ago
I saw my first red wing blackbird, a male, Sunday. A welcome sight after this snowy winter! He was eating suet, they usually go for safflower or cracked corn here.
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It's definitely the bean beetle. This one above has more spots, but after seeing one spot turn to two, it might just be they get older and they get more spots. I've also gone at it with the squash bugs and they are a type of stink bug, they are armored and fairly large. I have only once seen a squash bug fly, didn't know they had wings, but I searched every squash bug, stink bug, I could find, so I am aware of the stink bug you are referring only by picture, none found in the yard yet. I didn't take a picture because I am fairly sure it's the been beetle, just don't know why they are dive bombing my tomatoes. Do they like cannas, lilies, or elephant ears? I hope not, the only bean I planted was nubbed down by a goold ole' rabbit/mole/deer/groundhog/squirrel. I have to say the rabbits are hiding better this year, unlike the groundhog and the squirrel. Well, anyways I found my culprit, it's definitely a red bean beetle, now just to find out what he's eating. I hope not my castor bean plant, isn't it poisonous to bugs too? They are only flying around the tomatoes and those flowers I mentioned above, plus the honeysuckle bush.
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I just went out to fill the seed feeder and heard the first red-winged blackbird call of the season. The call was missing a couple notes so it wasn't as obvious as it normally would be. I searched my neighbor's trees for the bird, as they like to sit at the tops of them. I found him sitting at the top of a utility pole. This is ten days later than last year's first sighting.
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The bird isn't too successful. It just make the geese really angry. The geese in my area aren't as aggressive. They don't seemed to register me as a threat, but they take off when my neighbor's yellow lab (we don't have a fence and he's welcome to run in my yard!) comes by. When the coyote comes by, they run to. The situation is temporary, once the reeds grow up, they stop coming because it becomes difficult to take off.
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here anyway the red wings build a nest close to the ground usually where there are many upright stems close to water. they weave between stems a large nest of fibers grass stems and soft bark and leaves and even strips of bark and then line the nest with dry grass. the males get very defensive when the female is nesting and will attack almost anything or anybody who gets close to the nest. here most of the females raise two broods from early spring to late spring the males after nesting season flock together and leave mid summer to fall for warmer climates. the females stay with the young ones till they can fly and take care of them selves.
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claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
13 years ago
I've had a few male red-wings here in Plymouth, MA for about a month and they started singing a few days ago. A couple of grackles showed up about the same time early this week.

Today a large flock of red-wings and some more grackles arrived, gobbling up whatever was around. They're singing too and are very welcome here.

Claire
ginni77
13 years ago
We've been hearing their songs here too (Quad Cities, Illinois) for about a week. My sister and I saw some when we went birdwatching last week. Such a welcome site and sound!!! Nothing says "summer" like the song of a red-winged black bird! :)
bandjzmom
13 years ago
You surely cannot mistake their sounds for anything else. They are here in my yard too. I have never seen them attack anyone, but I have heard of that.

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