Blackbird singing

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Blackbird singing

March 29, 2014 by Mike Powell

Despite the rain yesterday, the male Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were singing up a storm. It seemed like their entire bodieswould expand as they prepared to call out loudly. I didn’t see any female blackbirds respond to the calls—in fact, I didn’t see any at all.

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife | Tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, blackbird, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, male Red-winged Blackbird, Red-wing Blackbird | 11 Comments

11 Responses

on March 29, 2014 at 12:49 pm | Reply Lyle Krahn

Interesting to see the tail feathers all expanded – I don’t think I’ve seen that before.
- on March 30, 2014 at 6:15 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  The expanded tail feathers became obvious to me only after I took several series of shots of the male blackbirds calling out. From certain angles, it’s especially visible.
on March 29, 2014 at 1:03 pm | Reply uthamz

Orange on Black ! Great color combination !
Nice shots , Mike !

utham
- on March 30, 2014 at 6:12 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. The blackness of the body really makes those accents of color stand out.
on March 29, 2014 at 3:13 pm | Reply Linda

Hello Mike, warm greetings from Montreal, Canada. Your photos are beautiful!
- on March 30, 2014 at 6:11 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I enjoy trying to capture the beauty that is all around me. The more that I shoot, the more I am becoming aware of that awesome beauty.
on March 30, 2014 at 8:22 am | Reply Sue

You really nailed that flare of color on the epaulet as they call. You might not see females for a while. Typically the males arrive much earlier than females in order to set up their territories.
on March 30, 2014 at 10:04 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

I finally saw some red wing blackbirds here yesterday and they were a very welcome sight!
on March 31, 2014 at 1:56 pm | Reply dianaed2013

Great photos and convey happiness with the bird singing
on April 3, 2014 at 4:32 am | Reply Singing blackbird, video | Dear Kitty. Some blog

[…] Blackbird singing […]
on April 3, 2014 at 12:02 pm | Reply Rachael

Fascinating – our blackbirds do not have red wings so I was quite amazed to see that.