I encountered another small flock of blackbirds this past weekend and this time I managed to get a shot of a female Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus). If you want to compare the female with the male, check out my earlier posting with an image of a male.
I have now gotten used to the idea that these blackbirds are likely to be be found in the water and the mud, rather than in the cattails, where I usually find the Red-winged Blackbirds. I have also gotten used to the notion that female blackbirds are not black—that used to mess with my head.
What I have not gotten used to, however, is the pale yellow color of the eyes of the Rusty Blackbirds. There is something a little eerie and disconcerting about those eyes and I find them to be a bit creepy.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Great pic, reminds me of the nursery rhyme 4 and 20 blackbirds..:-)
Thanks, Ed. Are you sure that you are not thinking of Thanksgiving already with the rest of the line “baked in a pie?”
Jeeze, I hope we get pumpkin or mincemeat, I think my mum is doing a pumpkin cheesecake this year…
Nice image, Mike. Rusty Blackbirds are quite rare here, and last year we had birders from all over coming to check out the pair someone found down by the Rio Grande.
I love those eyes.
One of the most beautiful photos of a blackbird I’ve ever seen.
Thanks. Most of the blackbirds that I see are Red-winged Blackbirds–they are beautiful, but I find the Rusty Blackbirds to be ever more beautiful.
Those eyes do look like something Alfred Hitchcock might have dreamed up but overall, it’s a pretty bird.
Thanks. I really like the colors of this bird and will continue to keep an eye out for additional opportunities to photograph it.
She’s a beauty, Mike. They are much more attractive than the female Red-winged BBs.
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