Rusty Blackbird

Adults have a pointed bill and a pale yellow eye. They have black plumage; the female is greyer. Rusty refers to the brownish winter plumage. They resemble the western member of the same genus, the Brewer's Blackbird; however, this bird has a longer bill and the male's head is iridescent green. The song resembles the grating of a rusty hinge.

The Rusty Blackbird is classified as Vulnerable (VU), considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

The Rusty Blackbird, Euphagus carolinus, is a medium-sized blackbird, closely related to grackles (Rusty Grackle is an older name for the species). More

The rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) is a widespread North American species that has shown chronic long-term and acute short-term population declines, based both on breeding season and wintering ground surveys. more Rusty blackbirds are ecologically distinct from other blackbirds, depending upon boreal wetlands for breeding and bottomland wooded-wetlands for wintering. The decline, although one of the most profound for any North American species, is poorly understood. Moreover, no conservation or monitoring programs exist for this species. More

Rusty Blackbirds have declined significantly in recent decades. The reasons are unclear, but habitat loss is likely a major contributor to the decline. Mercury contamination may be a problem for populations in the Northeast. Rarer than previously believed, it is uplisted from a species of Least Concern to Vulnerable status in the 2007 IUCN Red List. More

The Rusty Blackbird breeds in swampy wooded areas of Canada and Alaska. Relatively uncommon, it has evidently undergone a steady population decline since the mid-1960s. More

wintering rusty blackbirds to help us understand their distribution and find important local concentrations (hotspots). We learned a lot - see the 2009 blitz results But there is much more to learn. We want to blitz for several years to both locate more hotspots and determine how stable the already discovered hot spots are from year to year. More

Bent Life History for the Rusty Blackbird - the common name and sub-species reflect the nomenclature in use at the time the description was written. More

Rusty Blackbird is a species in deep, deep trouble. Five years ago, we published a paper in Conservation Biology laying out the case for both acute short-term and chronic long-term population declines. Since then, the plight of the Rusty Blackbird has attracted only a small amount of interest. More

Rusty Blackbirds nest in spruce bogs and other wet, forested areas throughout Canada and Alaska. They often nest in small clear-cuts or openings caused by natural disturbances. During migration and winter, they inhabit wooded swamps, but forage in open areas and cattle feedlots. They typically prefer wooded areas more than do other blackbird species. More

Rusty Blackbird in Toronto on 24 December 2007 Rusty Blackbird in Toronto on 24 December 2007 Rusty Blackbird in Toronto on 24 December 2007 Peter Burke's comments: This looks to me like a straightforward male Rusty Blackbird. I'm not sure about aging it because at this point some first basic birds may have worn down the bright edges to this extent already. More

The Rusty Blackbird is likely the most rapidly declining bird in North America. The reasons for this decline are poorly understand, and in 2005 the International Rusty Blackbird Technical Working Group was formed to address this lack of knowledge. This species is an uncommon winter resident across Tennessee arriving in early November and departing by mid-April. It is primarily found in wet woods, swamps and pastures, and regularly associates with other blackbird species in large winter flocks. More

* The Rusty Blackbird has been documented feeding on sparrows, robins, and snipe, among others. * Their song has been compared to the grating of a rusty hinge. * The North American Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count have determined that Rusty Blackbirds have dropped 85%-98% in the past 40 years. More

The Rusty Blackbird is one of the fastest declining North American passerines and as such is the focus of the recently formed International Rusty Blackbird Technical Working Group. In 2009, the Group organized the volunteer-based Blitz to document occurrences of the species across its wintering range, including Virginia. The Blitz is being repeated in 2010 between Jan 30 - Feb 15. Please read on for information about the Blitz and the status and ecology of the Rusty Blackbird in Virginia. More

Rusty Blackbird's habitat requirements is urgently needed to conserve its remaining populations. This is especially true during spring migration when Rusty Blackbirds congregate in large flocks which may be particularly vulnerable to habitat losses, blackbird control programs, or other disturbances. Unfortunately, very little is known about the natural history requirements of the Rusty Blackbird during its northward migration. bq. More

The Rusty Blackbird is in trouble. Little known and not well studied, the species was only recently discovered to be sharply declining. This oddball among blackbirds desperately needs our immediate conservation attention. Range & Distribution The Rusty Blackbird breeds in the wetlands of the far north, from Alaska to the Adirondacks and Newfoundland. It winters in the southeastern portion of North America, where it often mingles with other blackbirds in large flocks. More

Range & Distribution: The Rusty Blackbird breeds in the wetlands of the far north, from Alaska to the Adirondacks and Newfoundland. It winters in the southeastern portion of North America, where it often mingles with other blackbirds in large flocks. A legend for the range map to the right can be found here. Habitat: Rusty Blackbirds migrate far north during the spring, and settle into mixed forest near water. They prefer bogs, beaver ponds, swamps, and slow streams. More

In the breeding season, the Rusty Blackbird is the only blackbird in most of its range and is easily identified. In autumn, the rusty tinge to the mantle and light eyes of both sexes distinguish this species from the similar Brewer's Blackbird, which is abundant in most of the West. In spring males are black, with a bluish and greenish iridescence while the females are dark gray. In fall they are much more rust-brown, especially the head, breast and back. More

A century ago, the Rusty Blackbird was an incredibly abundant bird. Accounts from the period detail spectacular spring migrations between the species' wintering grounds in the bottomland forests of the southeastern United States and its breeding grounds in the forested wetlands of North America's vast boreal forest. Ornithological reports from New England and southern Canada describe waves of tens to hundreds of thousands of Rusty Blackbirds blackening the earth and clouding the sky in the spring. More

The Rusty Blackbird, Euphagus carolinus, is a medium-sized blackbird. Adults have a pointed bill and a pale yellow eye. They have black plumage; the female is greyer. "Rusty" refers to the brownish winter plumage. They resemble the western member of the same genus, the Brewer's Blackbird; however, this bird has a longer bill and the male's head is iridescent green. The song resembles the grating of a rusty hinge. More

the Rusty Blackbird is dependent on wooded wetlands where it takes mostly invertebrate prey. It is not well censused, since its breeding distribution is in far northern inhospitable boglands, far from roads and settlements. The cause of its decline are unknown but speculation points to spraying of blackbird roosts, where the Rusty roosts with other blackbird species during the winter, and possibly the depredations of the West Nile Virus. More

least appreciated – birds, but the Rusty Blackbird is the "white sheep” of the family. It is without doubt the least well known, due to its relatively low numbers, remote breeding range, and minimal pest status. It was named for its winter plumage, in which it is most often encountered. Many aspects of its ecology remain unstudied and its population status is largely unknown. It is sometimes considered a keystone species because its sturdy nests often are used by other species. More

Rusty Blackbirds have been declining seriously in the East throughout their normal range. The cause of this decline is unknown. Partly because of this decline, the species was added to the California Bird Records Committee Review list in January 2006. Most California records are from late Fall and Winter. Determining age and sex in the field is tricky. Pyle uses the pattern of the greater underwing coverts, but these are seldom visible in the field. More

Populations of North American Rusty Blackbirds have plummeted an estimated 85 to 99 percent over the past 40 years. Although the exact cause for this alarming decline is not clear, loss of habitat is one likely culprit. To learn more about how many birds are left, and where, eBirders are needed for the Rusty Blackbird Blitz taking place February 7-15. More

The Rusty Blackbird is listed as a Review species for the Idaho Bird Records Committee. 2. 20 sightings have been recorded in Idaho since 1952, but only five are records accepted by the committee. (IdahoBirds.net) 3. This is the first Rusty reported in the Treasure Valley since the 1996 Nampa Christmas Bird Count. 4. Populations of Rusty BB's have plummeted by 88-98% in North America. (eBird) 5. More

If you encounter Rusty Blackbirds, be sure to record the number of birds (flock size) and how you generated that number (estimate vs. direct count of individual birds). More

Male rusty blackbird in breeding plumage. Listed as Special Concern in Canada. Male rusty blackbird in breeding plumage. Listed as a species of Special Concern in Canada. It seems inconceivable that a member of the blackbird family could be listed on any conservation list. After all, some of the most noticeable and numerous birds on the continent are red-winged blackbirds, grackles and brown-headed cowbirds – all members of the Blackbird family. But the rusty blackbird is different. More

Rusty Blackbird is such an obscure bird that until quite recently, few people realized that it underwent a greater decline in the last part of the 20th century than any other species of North American bird, with numbers declining by as much as 98% since the 1960s. And, even now, ornithologists are uncertain about what has caused such a dramatic decline. More

Rusty Blackbird wouldn’t be one of them. Undoubtedly, it’s one of our least known birds. Most of North America’s blackbird species are doing fine, they are highly adaptable and have expanded their ranges and population despite (because of?) human development. But unlike these species, the Rusty Blackbird is a bird of the northern boreal wetlands, wintering in wooded wetlands of the United States. Fortunately, there’s still time. The species is numbered in the millions and not single or double digits. More