For birders along the East coast, winter is transitioning to spring. And with the new season come the noisy, sometimes annoying flocks of dark-feathered birds, perpetually looking for their next fast food stop (which usually come in the form of fields left to survive the winter, feeder stations, and even suburbian lawns). These jet-black food vacuums don’t mess around. They can have a giant, newly-filled feeder emptied in a day and a half if given the chance.
But take some time to study their habits and looks, and the birds’ pitch-black coats will light up with emerald, violet, and even turquoise hues when struck just right by the sun’s rays. And it’s hard to resist the Common Grackle’s comical pigeon-walk while hunting for seeds or buggies, or the Red-winged Blackbird’s flash of crimson and gold as it blasts off.
But how do you tell a Grackle from a Cowbird, or a Cowbird from a Red-winged Blackbird (the blackbird’s vermilion wings are usually hidden when foraging)? This post will hopefully help you solve these ID problems, and help you enjoy these ebony-doused critters a little bit more.
Below is a diagram of each of the most commonly seen black birds and markings you can use to tell them apart, followed by a short description of each.
Common Grackle
-Song: Mechanical, wheezy breep-pulleee.
-Common across suburbia, cities, beaches, basically anywhere humans are. Roams in huge flocks of 20-30 or more birds, overwhelming feeders and covering lawns. Head is glossy blue when seen in the sunlight, body is brownish-black. Often there is a violet-orange patch on the neck. Birds are highly variable in iridescent patterns. Wedge-shaped tail forms a “V” when seen form behind, a useful field mark. Flight is labored, ungainly when compared to other black birds.
Red-winged Blackbird
-Song: A pleasant, bubbling kulonk-la-ree!
-Since it prefers wide open fields, this black bird is not as common in suburbia. When it is seen, it’s usually in groups of 2-3 interspersed with grackles and cowbirds. Foraging is calm and deliberate, much slower than other black birds. The male’s gorgeous scarlet wing patch is usually only seen when in flight or displaying; otherwise they keep the red hidden because that particular color is an aggressive signal to other Red-wings (people wearing red hats or shirts have been attacked in Red-winged Blackbird territory). The female/juvenile is patterned much more like a sparrow, with brown and black stripes and only a hint of red.
Brown-headed Cowbird
-Song: Low, gurgling notes
-More common than Red-winged Blackbird; like the Red-wing, it can usually be found mixed into grackle flocks. Habits are similar to Red-wing; male Cowbird has a chocolate-brown head. Female is straight brown with no markings, juvenile is similar. This species is call the “cowbird” because it used to be exclusive to the Western part of America, where it followed bison (which are a type of bovid) around, eating insects kicked up by the lumbering beasts. Because of this constantly on-the-go lifestyle, these birds do not build their own nests, but lay eggs in other birds’ nests. However, it is illegal to remove their eggs from your nest boxes, because the cowbirds are protected under law, unlike our last black bird, the European Starling.
European Starling
-Song: I like to call it the R2-D2-bird for its rambling, squeaky noises including pulee! pulee! and whreeeeerrrr! that sound like they were cobbled together; in fact, this bird is a partial mimic of other birds and even humans.
-This black bird is sort of the odd one out among our black bird assemblage, as it is non-native to North America, as well as not being in the same classification as the grackle, blackbird, and cowbird. The starling is an aggressive, dumpy bird with a long, pointy beak and a short tail. In winter, the tips of the feathers are covered in white “starlets”, hence the name of this species. The juveniles are brown like the young cowbirds. This black bird, like the grackle, seems to have a penchant for overwhelming your feeders, and especially seems to like suet. They can be easily told apart when flying because their wings form perfect triangles, almost like a paper airplane. Look for it mixed in with other black birds and by itself.
I hope this post was informative and encouraged you to look at these birds in another way than we are used to doing. Happy birding!
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