02/26/2002 Archived Entry "Red-Winged Blackbirds"

Things are obviously slow bird-wise when the discussion on the listserver is focused on red-winged blackbirds. I don't understand it. I wonder if I should make a posting about starlings in my yard? A grackle was at our feeder over the weekend, how about that?

A quick check of the field guide indicates that RWBs winter in Ohio; so do grackles and cowbirds. True, Ohio is at the northern-most wintering range for these birds and they certainly make a migrational movement, but I don't understand the big deal over their sightings. They were here all winter. A visit at Ottawa any time this winter produced huge numbers of all blackbirds.

I saw RWBs at Ottawa on January 21st. It seemed a little strange, but not enough to blab about it to the rest of Ohio. Blackbirds feed primarily on the ground on whatever, but that's where they spend a large part of their time. The lack of snow and cold allowed these birds to hang around in big numbers. Canadian geese have been around all winter too because of the open water and snowless fields, but there's no talk about them.

I'm enthusiastic about birding, and although I enjoyed hearing the RWBs, grackles, cowbirds and starlings sing the other day, they are still blackbirds.

Wake me when a golden-crowned kinglet is spotted.

#bird - #home - #toledo