Brewer's Blackbird
Euphagus cyanocephalus
Breeding males are glossy black with purplish head and greenish sheen on body. Nonbreeding males have pale eyebrows and staring yellow eye. Females are plain dark brown and typically have dark eyes. Forages by walking on ground. Sometimes in mixed flocks with other blackbirds at feedlots. Also, walks along parking lots, golf courses, or roadsides. Females similar to Brown-headed Cowbird, but with longer, thinner bill and longer tail than cowbird.
Identification
Adult males have black plumage with an iridescent purple head and neck and glossy bluish-green highlights on the rest of the body. The feet and legs are black and the eye is bright yellow. The female is brownish-grey with slight hints of the male's iridescence. The female's eye is dark brown, while the male's is bright yellow. Overall, they resemble the eastern member of the same genus, the rusty blackbird; Brewer's blackbird, however, has a shorter bill and the male's head is iridescent purple. This bird is often mistaken for the common grackle but has a shorter tail. The call is a sharp check which is also distinguishable. This bird is in a different family from the Eurasian blackbird.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Euphagus cyanocephalus
- Authority
- (Wagler, 1829)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Icteridae
- Genus
- Euphagus
Range and habitat
Their breeding habitat is open and semi-open areas, often near water, across central and western North America. They are also very common in parking lots or around schools, and easily acclimate to the presence of people. They can live in low elevation, as low as below sea level in Southern California, and elevation as high as 8,000 feet. They are capable of surviving in diverse environments, including marshlands and forests. <p>These birds are often permanent residents in the west. Other birds migrate to the Southeastern United States and Mexico in Spring. The range of this bird has been expanding east in the Great Lakes region. They've expanded their habitat as recently as the 20th century.
- Breeding range
- NA : sw, sc Canada through w USA
- Non-breeding range
- to s Mexico
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
When Brewer's blackbirds identify threats, such as hawks or even humans, they dive towards them and omit an alarm call. Sometimes, when particularly threatened, they will use physical force on predators. <p>Brewer's blackbirds often walk along the ground. They can be seen making jerking motions with their heads. In colder months, these birds tend to flock together and forage. Sometimes, other species of blackbirds will join these flocks. During nesting season, their foraging behavior becomes more independent. Brewer's blackbirds have been seen cleverly following vehicles plowing fields, eating the churned up insects.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Brownish-headed Antbird
Myrmelastes brunneiceps
Dull-plumaged antbird with a restricted range in the Andean foothills. Males are grayish brown with small white wing spots; females are similar, but are paler tan below. Part of the species complex previously known as “Spot-winged Antbird;” it is similar to the previously conspecific Humaita Antbird, although separated by range and habitat. Brownish-headed Antbird is found in the understory of mature rainforest along the base of the Andes, especially in areas with bamboo, while Humaita Antbird is found away from the foothills in the Amazonian lowlands, mostly in palm swamps. Its song is a descending series of rapid high notes.
Savanna Nightjar
Caprimulgus affinis
Well-camouflaged nightbird, usually encountered roosting on gravel riverbeds, open areas in grasslands, rooftops, or roadsides. Sometimes found in small loose flocks when roosting. Fairly well adapted to urban life in some parts of its range and often found in towns and city edges. Intricately patterned gray-brown with less white than other nightjars; only males have a fairly small white patch on the wing near the tip. Most often detected by its distinctive, high-pitched, burry “chree-ik” song, repeated over and over.
Ashy Myzomela
Myzomela cineracea
A small to medium-sized honeyeater of lowland and foothill secondary forest on New Britain. Dull gray plumage which is darker on the head and in flight has white underwings. Found in the understory where it usually forages for epiphytic flowers. Co-occurs with Sclater’s, Red and Black-bellied Myzomelas but Ashy is larger and lacks red. Similar to Bismarck Black Myzomela and Black Sunbird, but Ashy is larger and gray rather than black. Call, a scratchy, nasal “rek” given in an uneven rhythm.
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