Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 8.3–10.2 in
21–26 cm - Wingspan
- 16.5–17.3 in
42–44 cm - Weight
- 1.6–3.5 oz
44–100 g
Other Names
- Carouges à tête jaune (French)
- Tordo cabeciamarillo (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- A few Yellow-headed Blackbirds appear nearly every winter along the East Coast, especially in Florida. Occasionally a few go even further afield; vagrants have been seen in Iceland and northern Europe.
- The Yellow-headed Blackbird often nests in the same marsh as the Red-winged Blackbird. The larger Yellow-headed Blackbird is dominant to the Red-winged Blackbird, and displaces the smaller blackbird from the prime nesting spots. The Yellow-headed Blackbird is strongly aggressive toward Marsh Wrens too, probably because of the egg-destroying habits of the wrens. When the Yellow-headed Blackbird finishes breeding and leaves the marsh, Marsh Wrens expand into former blackbird territories.
- The male Yellow-headed Blackbird defends a small territory of prime nesting reeds. He may attract up to eight females to nest within his area. The male helps feed nestlings, but usually only in the first nest established in his territory. The other females have to feed their young all by themselves.
Habitat
Marsh
Breeds in prairie wetlands and along other western lakes and marshes where tall reeds and rushes are present. Forages in the wetlands and in surrounding grasslands and croplands. In winter large flocks forage in agricultural areas.
Food
Insects
Aquatic insects, grain, and weed seeds.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 1–5 eggs
- Egg Description
- Grayish white with numerous dark brown spots and blotches.
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless with sparse down.
Nest Description
Nest an open cup woven of strips of reeds, attached to dead or live reeds. Always placed over water.
Nest Placement
Shrub
Behavior
Ground Forager
Gleans and probes for insects near water. Large flocks glean weed seeds and waste grain from fields, moving in a characteristic rolling or leap-frog motion where birds in the back of the flock fly up and land at the front of the flock.
Conservation
Least Concern
Continentwide population increasing. Local populations fluctuate with wetland conditions.
Credits
- Twedt, D. J., and R. D. Crawford. 1995. Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus). In The Birds of North America, No. 192 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.