Red-winged Blackbird, often seen in large flocks in North America, a masterpiece of the universe

Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), 15 - 16 cm long, weighing 0.22 - 0.33 lb,
Males are all black with red shoulders and yellow wing stripes,
The common name of the red-winged blackbird is taken from the characteristic red shoulder patches or shoulder blades of the mostly black adult male, visible when the bird is flying or performing.
When resting, males also have light yellow wing stripes. The spots of males under one year of age are usually smaller and more orange than those of adults.
The red-winged blackbird is widely distributed throughout North America, except in arid deserts, high mountain ranges, and arctic or densely forested regions.
They breed from east-central Alaska and the Yukon in the northwest and Newfoundland in the northeast, to northern Costa Rica in the south, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Northern populations migrate to the southern United States, but breeding populations there and in Mexico and Central America are sedentary.
Red-winged blackbirds north of the range are migratory, spending the winter in the southern United States and Central America. Migration begins in September to October. In West and Central America, the population generally does not migrate.
Red-winged blackbirds feed mainly on plant material, including weed seeds and grains such as corn and rice, but about a quarter of their diet consists of insects and other small animals, and more significantly during the breeding season.
They prefer insects, such as dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies, moths, and flies, but also eat snails, frogs, eggs, worms, spiders, and mollusks.
Red-winged blackbirds forage for insects by picking them up from plants or catching them in flight.
Sometimes insects are obtained by probing the base of aquatic plants with their small beaks, opening holes to reach the insects hiding inside.
Aquatic insects, especially emerging odonates, are of great importance in the diet of marsh-breeding red-winged sandpipers.
The red-winged blackbird is a short-distance, territorial, polygynous, flock-living migratory bird whose flight is characteristic, with rapid wing beats punctuated by long intervals short flight time.
The behavior of males makes their presence easily known: they perch in high places such as trees, bushes, fences, telephone lines.
Females tend to stay low, they can be found in home gardens, especially during migration, if seeds are spread on the ground.
During harvest season, Red-winged blackbirds eat blueberries, raspberries and other fruits.
They often visit backyard bird feeders with bread and seed mix.
In the fall, Red-winged blackbirds will forage in open fields, mixing with sparrows and starlings in flocks that can number in the thousands.
They eat corn while the grain is maturing; once the grain has hardened, it is relatively safe for these birds, as their beaks and digestive systems are not adapted to eating hard, whole grains, unlike regular birds which have longer and stronger beaks.
Commonly consumed seeded herbs are Sorghum halepense, Xanthium strumarium, Digitaria ischaemum, Sporobolus spp, Polygonum spp. and Amaranthus spp.
Red-winged blackbirds inhabit open grassy areas.
They often prefer wetlands and inhabit both freshwater and saltwater marshes,
They are also found in arid highlands, where they inhabit grasslands, savannas, and old fields.
In most of their range, they are the most abundant bird in the swamps where they nest.
They are also present in areas without much water, where they inhabit open fields, often agricultural areas, and sparse deciduous forests.
Females are 14 - 15 cm long and weigh 0.18 - 0.22 lb. The back is dark brown and the underside is paler.
Observations in females in captivity indicate that small amounts of yellow pigment are present on their shoulders after leaving the nest, the concentration of the pigment increasing in the first winter plumage after moulting. feathers and the change from yellow to orange usually occur in the second summer, after which there is no further change in coat color.
The colored area on the wing increases over the surface as the female ages, and varies in intensity from brown to a bright orange-red similar to that of the male in its first year.
Young birds resemble females but the underside is paler and has opaque white feather tassels. Both sexes have pointed beaks. The tail is of medium length and rounded. The eyes, beak and feet are all black.
They only gain their adult plumage after the breeding season the following year when they are 14 to 16 months old.
Young males go through a transition period in which the wing spots are orange before acquiring the darkest tone typical of adults.
During the breeding season, the density of breeding adults is much higher in wetlands than in upland fields.
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