This redwing blackbird came to pay a visit today, sang all day long in this little tree.

[texanwitch]

[texanwitch]

1. He sang his little heart out.

I think he was enjoying the sunflower seeds.

[texanwitch]

2. The only time I see redwing blackbirds is in the spring.

I love their song.

[Kat45]

3. I love those birds. They're so pretty.

I just saw one last weekend, first one I saw this year.

[texanwitch]

4. I don't think they stay here.

The blue jays have not returned yet.

They are little pigs at the feeder.

[Kat45]

5. I saw a blue jay last weekend too.

And some grackles. And my first robin of the year. When I see my first robin, I really feel like spring is here.

[texanwitch]

6. We have a lot of birds stopping by on their way home.

I have to buy bird seed in 100 lb sacks.

We have lots of grackles here, no jays yet.

[driver8]

7. What a gorgeous bird! Love the photos...

Thank you for sharing them!

[texanwitch]

8. I had the camera on the wrong setting.

The photos should be a little sharper.

The camera setting was still set for late afternoon.

I was excited just to get some pictures of the redwing.

[csziggy]

9. He must be looking for all the females we have here

I haven't seen any males so far, but there are half dozen or so females hanging out with the brown headed cowbirds - and probably some immature redwings in the crowd.

[texanwitch]

12. This guy here was singing all day.

He would fly around to different trees and bushes.

He is trying to find a girlfriend.

Between the redwing and the mockingbirds there is plenty of bird song.

[csziggy]

16. Today was nice enough to have the windows open

The bird songs were almost raucous! It was wonderful. Mockingbirds, bluejays, red wing blackbirds, bluebirds, several kinds of warblers, chipping sparrows, etc. Then the crows came in and disrupted things, but they were chased off by the red shouldered hawk.

[HopeHoops]

10. Around here (PA) they look quite different.

They've got larger heads and much bigger red patches - the white streak is smaller too. Weird how "birds of a feather" can be so different by region. But hey, our bluebirds have white bellies with an orange chest and that's MUCH different from the ones in the western states. I've never seen one except in pictures but they appear to be all blue. We've got a lot of them in our yard. We garden and don't use lawn poison so they like our yard. I've tried putting up boxes but the sparrows always take them over and DAMN are they nasty bastards. They've even chased off the tree swallows, which are the other invader species of bluebird boxes.

[femmocrat]

14. I gave up on bluebird boxes too.

We have bluebirds, but I don't know where they nest. It's such a thrill to see them!

[Mugu]

11. I'm in northern Illinois and am up to my pits in Redwings and Grackles.

It happens the same way every year. The Grackles come here, have their families and then head further north. They will come through again in the Fall as they head south.

The Redwings will nest in the tall grass and Cattails and stay until Fall when they will head south.

Redwing nest w/egg and newborns:


Redwings a few days old:

[texanwitch]

13. We lost a lot of birds because of Hurricane Ike.

Our native bird population is not the same in the summer months.

We lost trees to the townhouses, thankfully we do have trees in the railyard and bayou.

Great pictures of the babies.

[kayakjohnny]

15. Those guys are a very cool bird.

They sound different in each part of the country, but you can always tell it's them. Seems like they have to be around water too. Out west they were only found on cattails and down south, I only see them in the mangroves. I love those birds. Especially when they're in a big group. They have a wonderful sound in big numbers.

Thanks for the post.