enlarge + Rusty Blackbird, winter © Ron Austing

Perching Birds

Rusty Blackbird  Euphagus carolinus

Family: Blackbirds and Orioles, Icteridae

Audio: Martyn Stewart, © Naturesound.org

An estimated 85% of the species' North American population breeds within the Boreal Forest.

Description  9" (23 cm). In spring males are black, with a bluish and greenish iridescence; females are dark gray. In fall they are much more rust-brown, especially head, breast, and back. Conspicuous pale yellow eyes in both sexes.

Habitat  Boreal bogs in the breeding season; wooded swamps and damp woods with pools during migration.

Nesting  4 or 5 blue-green eggs, with brown blotches, in a bulky stick nest lined with grass, moss, and lichens set in a dense shrub or low tree near or over water.

Voice  Like the squeaks of a rusty gate; call note a sharp check.

Range  Breeds from Alaska and across northern Canada to southern Canada, northern New York, and northern New England. Winters from southeastern South Dakota and southern New England south to Gulf Coast.

Discussion  In the breeding season, the Rusty is the only blackbird in most of its range and is easily identified. In autumn, the rusty tinge to the mantle and light eyes of both sexes distinguish this species from the similar Brewer's Blackbird, which is abundant in most of the West.