Yellow-Headed Blackbird
(Genus, species: Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)
The Yellow-Headed Blackbird is an attractive resident
of marshy areas throughout Western North America -- particularly the
prairie regions. Unfortunately their 'song' doesn't match their
pretty feathers. Rather than a lovely trill, the blackbird lets
out a rather nasal squawking sound. Ahh well, at least they look
nice.
We were driving through Nanton, Alberta and saw a
large number of the birds sitting on top of cat tails in a large marshy
area (one of which is shown in the photo). Oddly enough they were
the only ones we spotted on our entire trip from Calgary to Cranbrook.
After a bit of research, we learned that they like large marshy areas --
the males are territorial, so the area must be large enough to host a
few of them (at least if you want to spot them). They tend to live
in loose colonies so require enough territory for at least a few males.
We also noticed that the red winged blackbirds that
usually dominate the ponds and fence posts near our home seemed to cower
every time their slightly larger yellow-headed cousins let out a
squawk.
While taking photographs, I was "swooped" by
one of the males (apparently I ventured a bit to close to his territory
so I quickly backed off). Yellow-headed blackbird males are very
territorial, though they usually only swoop at other birds that enter
their area (not soccer moms with cameras).
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