Red-winged blackbird back from winter break

For many people, one of spring’s most welcome harbingers is the return of the red-winged blackbirds. With the first thaws of early spring, the male blackbirds begin their recolonization of Ohio.

By March’s end, they are everywhere, teed up on cattails and saplings, gurgling forth throaty conk-ah-ree songs.

A male red-winged blackbird is resplendent in his lustrous coat of deep ebony. Its black body sets off flaming scarlet epaulets, which are trimmed in buffy yellow. Just before delivering his distinctive mechanical song, usually from a conspicuous perch, the songster glances around to see who is watching.

He puffs himself up, tips his head back and flares his wings, causing the brilliant shoulder patches to pop like beacons, then gushes out his song. What lady blackbird could resist such a feathered charmer?

Red-winged blackbirds are notorious polygynists, and an able stud might amass a harem of up to 15 females. Most of the females nesting within a male’s territory spawn chicks sired by the resident male. Studies have shown, however, that some females slip into adjacent males’ turf to mate.

Perhaps the most commonly puzzled-over bird in Ohio is the female red-wing. Clad in somber tones of brown shot through with heavy streaking, she looks nothing like the striking male. The females resemble robust sparrows, but such muted camouflage serves them well as they incubate eggs on well-concealed nests. An obvious difference in appearance between males and females in animals is known as sexual dimorphism.

By now, the red-wings are ubiquitous fixtures in the landscape. Although they attain peak numbers in marshlands, the blackbirds are rather universal in habitat tastes and commonly occupy fencerows, old fields and roadside rights of way.

There should be little problem in finding a red-winged blackbird to ogle; their Ohio population is estimated at 2.5?million birds. That’s only a fraction of the overall population of 130?million. The red-wing is one of North America’s most abundant birds.

Just as the return of these blackbirds ushers in spring and heralds the end of winter, the gathering of blackbird flocks in autumn foretells colder weather. By early fall, red-wings and other blackbirds will begin congregating. Blackbird aggregations can reach Hitchcockian levels, such as the estimated 140,000 red-winged blackbirds flocked together in Ottawa County on Nov. 7, 1989.

Although some tough blackbirds try to ride out winter in Ohio, most migrate to warmer haunts in the southern United States.

Truly epic flocks, sometimes numbering into the millions, occasionally amass on the wintering grounds.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www. jimmccormac.blogspot. com.

cdecker@dispatch.com