Blackbirds and Orioles

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Iona Beach, BC Every year we get on place where Yellow-headed blackbirds breed in Vancouver which is right down near Vancouver International Airport (YVR) at Iona Beach Park. This male was giving us a nice show of his wing as he was searching the picnic area for crumbs left by peoples. The sound of the males is unmistakable and said to sound like a creaky barn door. The birds will fly south and spend their time in Northern Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Michael W Klotz 2022 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Iona Beach, BC
Red-winged Blackbird - Iona Beach Regional Park, BC There are a couple of Red-winged blackbirds that show off their colors very close to the boardwalk at Iona Beach pond. This birds make up a huge family of birds that include orioles and oropendolas. Most have striking colors like the Yellow-headed Blackbird, and the Bullock's Oriole. This blackbird is a common visitor to most summer ponds and marshes while spending time in the winter on fields or near farms. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Red-winged Blackbird - Iona Beach Regional Park, BC
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Red-winged Blackbird - Colony Farms, BC
Western Meadowlark - Wildhorse, AB The songster of the grasslands is this large chunky bird with the golden throat. The Western Meadowlark is found from the Great Lakes west with some of the territory overlapping with the Eastern Meadowlark. The visual differences are few, but the song is substantially different. This makes for a much easier time where the two over lap. The bird was found just north of the Wildhorse border crossing in Alberta. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Western Meadowlark - Wildhorse, AB
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Meadow Lake, BC You can hear these blackbirds before you see them with a very non-melodic song. The visual on the other hand is very striking with the males hooded in yellow with a contrast to the black on the rest of their body. This was taken along the side of Meadow Lake Road just before heading to the Fraser Canyon. Michael W Klotz 2019 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Meadow Lake, BC
Brewer's Blackbird - Stump Lake, BC If you know Brewer' Blackbirds at all, you will know that this poster comes at the end of the metallic song they have and ends with a ka-chink. This particular male was trying to impress several females on around the pull out collecting grain that was left there. The bird may be fairly boring from a distance, but with the angle just right, the purples and blue-greens come out very well. This bird's Species name in latin, Euphagus cyanocephalus, translates loosely to blue-headed true-throat. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Brewer's Blackbird - Stump Lake, BC
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Stump Lake, BC Stump lake is one of my favorite birding locations for the dry weather birds here in BC as well as the different habitats in a very short distance. Not to mention, Klotz translates to stump, (or similar) in German. As I was heading around the south side of the lake I noticed a very big flock of Yellow-headed Blackbirds in a pullout. I wheeled around and headed back to find the ground covered in wheat. There were several birds making short order of the grain, including White-crowned Sparrow, Brewer's Blackbird, and European Starling. There must have been 50-65 male birds hovering around the area becoming braver every minute. Most of the Females must have been on nests as there was only half a dozen or so. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Stump Lake, BC
Rusty Blackbird - Burnaby, BC While not a rare bird in British Columbia's northern forests, it is quite rare to see this visitor in the Vancouver area. When they are seen is in the fall migration where we might see one bird or so a year. As it turns out, this pale-eyed bird dropped by Piper Spit on Burnaby Lake a couple of days ago and to top it off there was a second bird at the same location. A two for one. Rusty blackbirds are told apart from the other blackbirds easily by the eye color, but in the breeding season, the males are all black which resembles the Brewer's Blackbird. The Brewer's is however smaller and the beak more conical as well as having a purple sheen on the head and chest not seen in the Rusty. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Rusty Blackbird - Burnaby, BC
Great-tailed Grackle - Vancouver An unusual visitor to Vancouver was calling an empty lot in the fancy part of town home for the time being. Some of the locals were interested to know what all of the camera's were for this morning and were surprised to hear that we don't usually see this bird here. Word has it, it has been here in the same location for the last month. Great-tailed Grackles don't usually make it north of California and Arizona and are very common in the sub-tropics and tropics of North and Central America. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Great-tailed Grackle - Vancouver, BC
A male and female Bullocks Oriole were feeding the young ones on a fast and furious schedule. Most of the time they were bringing back grasshoppers for dinner. The male took a bit of a break to keep watch for some aerial predator that I couldn't find. He chattered some and then became stock still. It was a treat to watch these birds in action. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Bullock's Oriole - Pritchard, BC
Red-winged Blackbird - This bright shouldered blackbird is always the most vocal of the birds of a marshy pond. The are fiercely protective of their home range driving off birds and animals many times their size. They are frequently seen harassing crows and Red-tailed hawks until the would be nest thief is driven from the area. These birds are the most common bird in North America with some 130 million birds which is down from 190 million birds over the last 40 years. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Red-winged Blackbird - Richmond
The bench above the upper south Thompson River has some great grassland birds. The fence posts were alive with yellow birds with black
Western Meadowlark - Pritchard, BC
Brewer's Blackbird - Pritchard This is a very common sight around working pastures and farms. The tell tale of this blackbird is the purple sheen on its head which is why the latin name is cyanocephalis, although the true translation is
Brewer's Blackbird - Pritchard, BC
Red-winged Blackbird - Pritchard Marking territory with the famous epaulet display. These fantastic birds are one of the first to indicate it is summer, sometimes working ponds that still have ice on them. This blackbird was in good company with several others of his family group including Brewers Blackbirds, and Western Meadowlarks. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Red-winged Blackbird - Pritchard
Yellow-headed Blackbird - This is an unusual visitor to Burnaby Lake and this day, there were three young Yellow-headed Blackbirds that were picking in and around the exposed stumps. The were very popular and surprisingly good subjects that day. Besides the striking yellow against black, the next most noticeable feature of this bird is the raucous call. You can always tell you are in a swamp with these birds. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Burnaby
Brown-headed Cowbird - If you aren't looking for it, the brown head of these blackbirds are hard to see. They are found in many suburban areas including farms. This male and a flock of 5 or 6 other birds was found in the middle of Burnaby Lake Park out on Piper Spit. A notorious claim to fame for these birds are their cuckoo like parasitism of other song birds nests. Because of their expansion due to an increase in the cattle population, they have hurt some bird populations. It is always interesting to see a little warbler feeding a cowbird that is twice its size. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Brown-headed Cowbird - Burnaby
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Brewer's Blackbird - Esquimalt, BC
Yellow-headed Blackbird - On an early morning trip to Iona Island a came across two male yellow-headed blackbirds working the edge of the pond. They were relatively relaxed as a slowly followed along with the exercise. These birds are very easy to detect in the spring with the yellow beacon on their head and the conspicuous white wing patch but most notable is the absoultely anti-melodic screechy growl. There is something about it that says
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Richmond, BC
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Yellow-headed Blackbird - Kidd Lake, BC