Agelaius phoeniceus
Order Passeriformes
Family Icteridae
Subfamily Agelaiinae
♂ Adult male.— Entire plumage black, showing in flight a bright scarlet patch edged with buff and white, at the bend of the wing; often only the white edging shows when the wing is closed.
♀ Adult female and Immature.— Brown, everywhere streaked; throat often buffy.
Nest, of grasses and weed-stalks, in a low bush or on a tussock of sedge.
Eggs, pale blue, scrawled and spotted with dark purple or black.
The Red-winged Blackbird is a common summer resident of the Hudson Valley and of southern and central New York; in northern New England, especially on the upland, it is much less common. Occasionally a few Red-wings winter in the marshes near Boston, and may do so in favorable localities in southern New England. The male arrives early in March, but it is often three weeks before the female joins him. When the young are full grown, the breeding birds depart and are rarely seen after August. Flocks of northern migrants often arrive in September and linger till October, and on mild days sing in chorus, though without the vigor of spring.
At first, while the marshes are still cold, the hillsides are visited by flocks of males, and here they may often be seen feeding on the ground with Robins, or in a noisy chorus on some tree near by. The song has a liquid opening-note, and ends in a ree or ray, long prolonged; when uttering it, the male spreads his wings and shows his blazing scarlet epaulets. When a flock are singing, the liquid notes form a musical undertone to the shriller ree, the whole suggesting the music of waters. Besides the song, the species has a rather heavy chuck, used as a call-note, and a long, rather pure whistle, constantly heard in the marshes in early summer, and often followed by a series of staccato scolding-notes, and in midsummer a loud nasal dissyllabic note, suggesting the cry of the nighthawk. The birds are intolerant of intrusion, and gather round a visitor with much expostulation. They also attack and escort away any large birds — hawks, crows, and even inoffensive bitterns.
A male Red-wing is easily told by his scarlet wing-patch or even by its white edging, which shows when the wings are closed. A female differs from the other blackbirds in the heavy streaking above and below. (See Rusty Blackbird)
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)