Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: ICTERIDAE
IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern
© Gerrit Vyn
Its brilliant yellow head, together with its loud, rusty-hinge call, make the Yellow-headed Blackbird a conspicuous presence in western wetlands. It breeds in loose colonies and places its nest over water, attached to cattails and reeds.
Song a few musical notes followed by harsh, scratchy buzzing, like very large, very rusty metal hinges squealing.