Red-winged Blackbird Similar Species Comparison

Main SpeciesRed-winged Blackbird

Breeding male (Red-winged)

Stocky, broad-shouldered blackbird with a slender, conical bill. Males have a red shoulder patch bordered in yellow.

Female (Red-winged)

Stocky, broad-shouldered blackbird with a slender, conical bill. Females are brown and heavily streaked overall with a yellowish wash around the bill.

Breeding male (Red-winged)

Displaying males sit on cattails and other high perches, spreading their wings and puffing out their shoulder patches while singing and calling.

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Breeding male (Red-winged)

Males sing frequently from cattails and other conspicuous perches.

Female (Red-winged)

Females are dark brownish overall, with crisply streaked underparts.

Female (Red-winged)

Often seen on the ground foraging or gathering nesting material. Females look very different from males, but have the same long, pointed bill and stocky stature. This video has no audio.

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Nonbreeding male (Red-winged)

Nonbreeding males often look scaly and have incomplete red shoulder patches.

Breeding male (California Bicolored)

Males in California lack the yellow border on the red shoulder patch.

Breeding male (Red-winged)

In addition to the male's "conk-la-ree" song, males and females make several calls including a harsh "check" note and a high, thin whistle.

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Female (California Bicolored)

Female birds in California often have more cinnamon tones to their feathers and dark undertail coverts with less streaking.

Breeding male (Mexican Bicolored)

Birds breeding in Mexico lack the yellow border to the red shoulder patch.

Flock

Forms large flocks in winter in marshes and open habitats, sometimes with other blackbird species.

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Breeding male (Red-winged)

Males spend much of the breeding season sitting on a high perch over their territories and singing their hearts out.

Breeding male (Red-winged)

Males display by holding their wings out to show off the red shoulder patches.

Female (Red-winged)

Breeds in wetlands.

Flock

Flocks in the thousands with other blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds, and starlings.

Similar SpeciesTricolored Blackbird

Male

Tricolored and Red-winged Blackbirds overlap in California. Male Tricolored Blackbirds can be distinguished by their overall glossier plumage and a white (not yellow) border on their shoulders or epaulets.

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Similar SpeciesTricolored Blackbird

Female

Tricolored and Red-winged Blackbirds overlap in California. Female Tricolored Blackbirds are a somewhat colder charcoal-gray overall with less streaking than female Red-winged Blackbirds.

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Similar SpeciesSong Sparrow

Adult

Song Sparrows and other streaky sparrows sometimes look like female Red-winged Blackbirds, though they are smaller and shorter tailed, with a shorter, thicker bill than a blackbird.

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