Red-winged Blackbird by Christian Goers

Black beauties of the marsh

Red-winged blackbirds are back, on territory, and sounding off

(published 3-2-23)

Sometimes I like to nerd out on a specific bird. The challenge is to learn something new, and I always do.

Today’s focus is the red-winged blackbird, a true harbinger of spring in northern Illinois. The glossy black males with scarlet shoulder patches (or “epaulets”) are now returning from the southern U.S., establishing territories in preparation for mating season. Their exuberant “konk-la-reeeee!” is a classic sound of the marsh that amplifies in the coming weeks.

The redwing is highly adaptable. It thrives in a variety of habitats, even low-quality ones, and adjusts its diet to the season. These traits, along with a hyperactive sex drive, make it one of the most abundant birds in North America, found coast-to-coast. We see redwings just about everywhere, from wetlands and farm fields to bird feeders and ditches along the interstate.

Beginning birders may find the female redwing tricky to identify. It’s brown and heavily streaked, like a large sparrow. The females migrate here a few weeks after the males and maintain a low profile.

Lake Ellyn Park, Glen Ellyn

Redwings are famously aggressive during nesting season, generally mid-May through July. If you are close to an active nest the male will let you know. Agitated birds hover over human intruders, scolding repeatedly with a harsh “chack!” Parks with trails around lakes and ponds, and golf courses, are hot zones.

Some redwings get physical, approaching from behind and making light contact with their feet. Getting bopped on the head is startling but seldom bloody.

Any perceived enemy is fair game for the fearless RWBB. The species will even chase and briefly land on flying hawks, crows and herons, giving the larger birds a peck on the head or neck.

My Words on Birds business card features a redwing in the air, poised for attack. I snapped the photo looking straight up and then scrambled to safety.

But let’s get back to those epaulets. When a male redwing sings, the tail spreads out and the wings lift, fully exposing the red patches. Ornithologists, I learned, call this song-spread. The display serves to defend territory and attract potential mates. Birds with the biggest, brightest wing patches enjoy a competitive advantage.

The red patches have a yellowish edge at the base. A thin buffy wing bar is often the only color visible on a male, such as during a foraging trip inside another male’s territory. This species can be inconspicuous when it needs to be.

A few other gleanings:

-- The lifespan of a red-winged blackbird averages about three years. The oldest bird on record, which we know from bird banding, was 15 years and 9 months.

-- Redwings are among the most polygynous of all bird species. Males may breed with 10 or more females during nesting season, although three is average. Females are a little slinky, too, often mating with more than one male.

A former RWBB nest

-- A male’s territory is usually a quarter-acre or less—much smaller than I expected given all the hanky panky going on.

-- Females construct the nest from dried marsh vegetation and grasses, about four feet off the ground or water surface. The nest is used only once. A new one is built if there is a second brood, to keep the young safe from tiny nest parasites.

-- Redwings are capable of massive crop damage when they gather in huge flocks after nesting season. The species is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and yet farmers are allowed to employ “control measures” to mitigate economic losses.

When not raising families, red-winged blackbirds are indeed highly social, which makes them easy targets. Winter roosts in agricultural areas, usually with grackles and starlings mixed in, can number in the millions.  

This time of year, however, the dapper redwings are setting up shop and looking out for No. 1. Celebrate spring’s early arrival by going for a look and listen at your local marsh. Even a neighborhood pond with some cattails might do the trick. The show is on!

Copyright 2023 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.

Sax-Zim Bog Birding Festival, February 2016

From my kitchen table to yours

20th Anniversary Column!

(published 2-15-23)

Earlier this month I presented to the DuPage Birding Club, filling an hour with stories from this column. Amazingly, some audience members stayed awake until the end. As Words on Birds begins its twentieth year, here’s a light version of my remarks, without the 103 PowerPoint slides.

My inaugural column, “Birdwatching is like a box of chocolates,” ran in the Glen Ellyn News and other weekly newspapers in the now defunct Liberty Suburban chain. The Daily Herald picked up the column in 2008 and it’s been here ever since, running once a month if I’m on my game.

This is my passion project. After more than 200 columns, I still enjoy writing about birds, birding, and birders.

Finding topics isn’t hard. I usually have several column-worthy ideas swimming in my head, but many stories are pop ups—unplanned columns about unusual or rare bird sightings, by me and by others. “Chasing the big grackle,” last February, is a good example.

The story of that vagrant great-tailed grackle still makes me smile. Doug Stotz from Chicago’s Field Museum discovered the bird, hanging out next to I-57 at the Monee exit—the bird, not Doug. It stayed for weeks, surviving a brutal winter on gas station food scraps.

Stotz, Josh Engel and other true bird experts have provided helpful insights over the years, no doubt saving me from myself. I’m learning all the time, but I’m still a birder, not an ornithologist.

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, May 2014

Monee was exciting, but it couldn’t top Yorkville. That’s where nine black-bellied whistling ducks visited Irene Kaufman’s backyard feeders in May 2014. That story had it all—a rare species for our region that revved up the birding community, a “stakeout” scenario lasting 10 days, and a welcoming homeowner who embraced the excitement in her once peaceful subdivision. More than 200 birders signed a guestbook in Irene’s driveway.

I write about common birds, too, especially those in our neighborhoods. The column has made me more observant, and I hope it’s had the same effect on you. Species that don’t visit feeders can be seen in your trees and shrubs, or in the sky, at certain times of year. The key is being alert and knowing when to look. I’ve devoted columns to cranes, eagles, nighthawks, hummingbirds, nuthatches, owls, sparrows, tanagers, woodpeckers, wrens and, of course, the dazzling spring warblers.

Going beyond the backyard adds to the fun. As birdwatchers we enjoy an outstanding network of county forest preserves and other local hot spots, dozens of them mentioned here. Some venues are worth a bit more driving. We’ve traveled to Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, Indiana Dunes State Park, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, and the legendary Sax-Zim Bog in Minnesota.

You’ve also endured my rambling bird-filled vacation reports from Florida (lots), South Dakota, Pacific Northwest, England, and Ireland. I’ll admit, Words on Birds sometimes reads like a personal diary—thanks for indulging me. I wrote about my “spark bird” (hooded warbler); 100^th yard bird (common yellowthroat); 500^th life bird (a varied thrush in Evanston!); and my triumphant encounters with former nemesis birds such as Kentucky warbler and worm-eating warbler.

Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge, June 2014

This column introduced you to birding rock stars like George Archibald, Vern Kleen, Noah Strycker and Julie Zickefoose. You met local birders Graham and Henrey Deese, Keriann Dubina, Ray Feld, David Johnson, Kristina Knowski, Al Stokie and Kyle Wiktor. You even met my late parents, Rollin and Dori Reiter, who took me on a very cold woodcock watch early in life. I’m sure glad they did.

I profiled the “birdiest” yard in DuPage County; went downstate to observe prairie chickens on their lek; likened birding to fishing; debated birdwatching as sport vs. hobby; covered Big Days and Big Years; reviewed a dozen books; and sang the virtues of the federal duck stamp. One of my earliest columns was about butterflies!

No bird-related topic is off limits. Writing about the racism of John J. Audubon wasn’t easy, and it’s never fun to report on the steady decline of bird populations, a sadly recurring theme. But people need to know.

Birders tend to care about conservation and the environment, so the more of them the better. If my writings help bring a few more people into birdwatching, then I’m a happy reporter.

You should know that I don’t see or even attempt to see all the spectacular birds featured on these pages. It’s a rush just keeping track of all the action, conveying the experiences of lucky souls who track down their targets or who simply find themselves in the right place at the right time. Fortunately, a lot of them carry big lenses.

High-quality bird photos are essential. They draw people in way better than words. The following photographers have been especially generous with their images: Jackie Bowman, Mike Carroll, Jim Frazier, Christian Goers, Jerry Goldner, Bonnie Graham, Tamima Itani and Matt Misewicz.

Thanks also to you, for reading my stuff, and to the Daily Herald for providing a far-reaching platform. I’ll try to keep earning my wings.

Copyright 2023 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.