The blackbirds are a group of New World birds that belong to the Icteridae family and look very similar to the Eurasian Blackbird, which is, in fact, a thrush. New World blackbirds have long conical bills, allowing them to feed on seeds predominantly and eat many insects.
They typically feed on the ground, but some species feed in trees.
Sexual dimorphism is present among many species, with the males usually being black with patches of color and the females being dull and brown. Many species gather during winter to form huge feeding flocks, sometimes composed of multiple blackbirds and other related bird species.
There are 23 blackbird species grouped into 14 genera, all described in the following article.
1. Genus Agelaius
1.1 Red-shouldered Blackbird (Agelaius assimilis)
The male Red-shouldered Blackbird has plain black plumage with a bluish iridescence. It also has an orangy-red shoulder patch with a yellow outline. Females are less glossy and plain black with no shoulder patches.
They are endemic to Cuba, where they live in marshes, wetlands, and swamps.
1.2 Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
The breeding male Red-winged Blackbird is a glossy black bird with a yellow stripe on the wing and an orange-red patch on the shoulder. In non-breeding plumage, they have rusty edges to the feathers and smaller shoulder patches.
Females have plain brown upper parts, heavily streaked brown underparts, and pale eyebrows. Tiny shoulder patches are also visible.
They are found almost throughout North America and most of Central America, where it is one of the most abundant birds. They live in marshes and scrubby fields.
1.3 Tawny-shouldered Blackbird (Agelaius humeralis)
The Tawny-shouldered Blackbird has glossy black plumage and a yellow-orange shoulder patch. The female is similar to the male but has less gloss and a smaller shoulder patch.
They live in many habitat types, including forest edges, pastures, shrublands, and fields. They have a small distribution, being limited to Cuba and Hispaniola.
1.4 Tricolored Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor)
The Tricolored Blackbird is a small black bird with white stripes on its wings. The breeding male is glossy black, except for the orange-red shoulder patch.
Non-breeding males are duller. The female is dull dark brown overall with streaks on the underside.
They occur in marshes, wetlands, grasslands, and fields on the west coast of the United States and Baja California in Mexico.
1.5 Yellow-shouldered Blackbird (Agelaius xanthomus)
The Yellow-shouldered Blackbird is plain black except for the yellow shoulder patch. Males and females are alike.
They are only found in Puerto Rico. They inhabit mangroves and adjacent scrublands.
2. Genus Agelasticus
2.1 Pale-eyed Blackbird (Agelasticus xanthophthalmus)
The Pale-eyed Blackbird has shiny black plumage with a pale yellow or white eye. Sexes are similar.
They live in wet grasslands and marshes around oxbow lakes and lagoons in their restricted range within Peru and Ecuador.
2.2 Unicolored Blackbird (Agelasticus cyanopus)
The Unicolored Blackbird males are plain black birds. The females show geographic variation with black-streaked brown to brownish-olive upper parts.
Their undersides are dark yellow to olive with brown streaks. They have a yellow eyebrow stripe and a dark face mask.
They occur in swamps, grasslands, and marshes. They are found in South America – mainly in the center.
2.3 Yellow-winged Blackbird (Agelasticus thilius)
The Yellow-winged Blackbird male is a black bird with yellow on the wings forming a shoulder patch.
The female has dark brown upperparts, a pale eyebrow stripe, a dark brown face mask, and a light brown underside with dark streaking.
They occur in southern South America, inhabiting wetlands, lake edges, swamps, pastures, and fields.
3. Genus Amblyramphus
3.1 Scarlet-headed Blackbird (Amblyramphus holosericeus)
The Scarlet-headed Blackbird is a beautiful blackbird with a bright orange-red head, neck, throat, chest, and thighs. The sexes are similar.
They live in densely vegetated marshes, and they’re found in Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, and Bolivia.
4. Genus Anumara
4.1 Forbes’s Blackbird (Anumara forbesi)
Forbes’s Blackbird has black plumage across the entire body. Males are similar to females.
They live in forest edges, adjacent marshes, flooded grasslands, and sugarcane plantations. They have a restricted range in northeastern and eastern Brazil.
5. Genus Chrysomus
5.1 Chestnut-capped Blackbird (Chrysomus ruficapillus)
The Chestnut-capped Blackbird males in breeding plumage have black plumage, except for the throat, forehead, and crown, which are chestnut. In non-breeding plumage, they have olive-tipped feathers on their backs, flanks, and chests.
Females have a dark olive-brown face and upper parts with fine streaking, a buffy throat, and olive-brown underparts with dark streaks.
They live in wet grasslands, marshes, and agricultural lands. They occur throughout central-eastern South America.
5.2 Yellow-hooded Blackbird (Chrysomus icterocephalus)
The breeding male Yellow-hooded Blackbird is an unmistakable bird with a bright yellow head, chest, and nape contrasting with the black body. In non-breeding plumage, the males look similar but have yellow-tipped chest and back feathers and an olive-yellow nape and crown.
The female looks different, with a yellowish head, a brighter yellow upper chest, blackish wings, and dark olive-brown over the rest of the body with some streaking.
They are found in northern South America. They live in wetlands, marshes, around lakes, and along rivers.
6. Genus Curaeus
6.1 Austral Blackbird (Curaeus curaeus)
The female and male Austral Blackbirds have glossy black plumage throughout their bodies.
They live in many habitats, including farmlands, urban parks, open forests, and scrublands. This species is found in Chile and Argentina.
7. Genus Dives
7.1 Melodious Blackbird (Dives dives)
The Melodious Blackbird has velvety black plumage. Sexes are similar.
This blackbird is located in Central America and is found in semi-open habitats such as open forests, agricultural lands, yards, and adjacent fields near forests.
7.2 Scrub Blackbird (Dives warczewiczi)
The Scrub Blackbird is black overall with a bluish sheen. Males and females look similar.
They live in open areas and lowland forests of western Ecuador, western Peru, and southwestern Colombia.
8. Genus Euphagus
8.1 Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Brewer’s Blackbird males in breeding plumage have glossy black plumage with a purple sheen on the head, a greenish glow on the body, and yellow eyes. The non-breeding males have a pale eyebrow stripe.
Females have dark brown plumage, a delicate purple gloss on the head, a greenish sheen on the body, and a dark eye line.
They inhabit open areas, including fields, farmlands, parks, and urban environments. They are found in most of the United States, Mexico, and southwestern Canada.
8.2 Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus)
The breeding male Rusty Blackbird has black plumage with a glossy green sheen. In non-breeding plumage, the male has a buff-brown eyebrow stripe, a rusty-brown nape, crown and ears, and rusty edges to the feathers. The underside is buff-brown with black barring. The upper side is primarily brown, with a black rump, tail, and wings. They have yellow eyes in all plumage phases.
Females are slate-grey with rusty feather edges, buff-brown eyebrow stripes, brown heads and chests, and dark upperparts showing a bluish-green gloss.
They occur in most of North America’s wooded swamps, bogs, shorelines, wet forests, cultivated areas, pastures, and fields.
9. Genus Gnorimopsar
9.1 Chopi Blackbird (Gnorimopsar chopi)
The Chopi Blackbird has wholly glossy black plumage. Females look similar to males.
They occur on forest edges, in woodlands, grasslands, savannas, and agricultural areas. They are found in a large portion of central and eastern South America.
10. Genus Nesopsar
10.1 Jamaican Blackbird (Nesopsar nigerrimus)
The Jamaican Blackbird males have entirely glossy black plumage. Females look similar to males.
They inhabit high-elevation, wet montane forests, and wet woodlands, and they’re endemic to Jamaica.
11. Genus Oreopsar
11.1 Bolivian Blackbird (Oreopsar bolivianus)
The Bolivian Blackbird is a plain black bird with brown wings. Males and females look similar.
They occur in agricultural areas, woodlands, cactus forests, scrublands, and farming areas in dry valleys in the Andes of Bolivia.
12. Genus Ptiloxena
12.1 Cuban Blackbird (Ptiloxena atroviolacea)
The Cuban Blackbird has glossy black plumage with shades of blue, violet, and blue-green sheens. The female is duller than the male.
They are found in various wooded habitats, such as wet forests, yards, parks, wooded cities, grasslands, open woodlands, fields, and human settlements. This species is endemic to Cuba.
13. Genus Xanthocephalus
13.1 Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)
The Yellow-headed Blackbird is aptly named, with the male being a plain black bird with a white stripe on the wing and a golden-yellow head, neck, and chest.
Females are drab-looking with dark brown bodies, dull yellow chests, and patchy black and yellow heads.
They occur in western North America and Mexico, primarily in marshes, wetlands, meadows, and river and pond edges.
14. Genus Xanthopsar
14.1 Saffron-cowled Blackbird (Xanthopsar flavus)
The Saffron-cowled Blackbird has a yellow head, rump, shoulder patches, and underside, while the rest of the body is black, including the black face mask. Females are similarly patterned to males but have brown feathers, whereas males have black feathers.
They live in grasslands, pastures, and marshes. Their small range is in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Conclusion
The blackbirds are an interesting group of birds with black plumages, shades of sheens, and colorful patches that vary by species.
The conservation status of blackbirds varies from those which are highly abundant to those whose populations are declining rapidly.
The blackbirds are threatened by habitat destruction due to land conversion, habitat fragmentation, poisoning, and competition, all made worse by the tiny ranges some species live in.
Quick ID: 23 species at a glance
| Species | Field mark |
|---|---|
| Red-shouldered Blackbird | orangy-red shoulder patch with a yellow outline |
| Red-winged Blackbird | orange-red patch on the shoulder |
| Tawny-shouldered Blackbird | yellow-orange shoulder patch |
| Tricolored Blackbird | orange-red shoulder patch |
| Yellow-shouldered Blackbird | plain black except for the yellow shoulder patch |
| Pale-eyed Blackbird | pale yellow or white eye |
| Unicolored Blackbird | yellow eyebrow stripe and a dark face mask |
| Yellow-winged Blackbird | yellow on the wings forming a shoulder patch |
| Scarlet-headed Blackbird | bright orange-red head, neck, throat, chest, and thighs |
| Forbes's Blackbird | black plumage across the entire body |
| Chestnut-capped Blackbird | black plumage with chestnut throat, forehead, and crown |
| Yellow-hooded Blackbird | bright yellow head, chest, and nape contrasting with the black body |
| Austral Blackbird | glossy black plumage throughout their bodies |
| Melodious Blackbird | velvety black plumage |
| Scrub Blackbird | black overall with a bluish sheen |
| Brewer's Blackbird | glossy black plumage with a purple sheen on the head, a greenish glow on the body, and yellow eyes |
| Rusty Blackbird | yellow eyes in all plumage phases |
| Chopi Blackbird | wholly glossy black plumage |
| Jamaican Blackbird | entirely glossy black plumage |
| Bolivian Blackbird | plain black bird with brown wings |
| Cuban Blackbird | glossy black plumage with shades of blue, violet, and blue-green sheens |
| Yellow-headed Blackbird | male: plain black body with white wing stripe and golden-yellow head, neck, and chest |
| Saffron-cowled Blackbird | yellow head, rump, shoulder patches, and underside |
Tristan is a South African biologist, photographer, birder and content writer. He has had a passion for the outdoors for most of his life, being taught basic biology and being shown animals in their natural habitat from a very young age. He picked up a camera for the first time as an eleven-year-old boy in 2008 and photographed a distant flock of African Green Pigeons on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast. Little did he know, this would be the beginning of a journey that has shaped his life.
He is now a passionate birder that can almost always be found with his camera in hand, having never forgotten his roots in photography that led him into the world of birding and exploring. He has travelled extensively throughout South Africa in search of birds, racking up a total of 631 seen species so far. Birds may make up a large portion of his interests, but amphibians, reptiles, insects, some plants and other organisms also pique his interest while exploring. He uses photography as a tool to document his experiences while also putting effort into creating beautiful imagery. His photographs have appeared in the African Birdlife magazine, and he has won photography competitions over the years.
The marine realm has also captivated Tristan since he first entered the ocean with an eye for what lurks below the surface. Once he was old enough, he obtained his Advanced Scuba Diving qualification and has dived on many coral reefs between Durban and Sodwana Bay on the magical east coast of South Africa and in the stunning Red Sea off Hurghada, Egypt. He has admitted that the fascinating diversity of organisms found in underwater ecosystems such as coral reefs would compete with birds if they were more accessible. Pelagic birding is his favourite type of birding. Why? Because it combines his love of birds with the ocean, and watching pelagic birds floating effortlessly over the surface of the ocean is mesmerising.
He completed his honours degree in Biological Sciences, focusing on sensory ecology in frogs, through the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. His most recent exploits found him living in the Kalahari Desert for one year, working as a field research assistant at the Kalahari Research Centre (KRC) in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. There he spent his days with habituated groups of Meerkats, following them as they led their everyday lives – collecting behavioural data for the Kalahari Meerkat Project run by the University of Zurich and the University of Cambridge.
He started writing about his travels and experiences near the end of his school days and has enjoyed doing so ever since. He sees writing as a way to express and share emotions felt during those experiences and combines that with photographs to tell unique stories about unrepeatable moments.
I have seen two blackbirds with perfect yellow rings around their necks. That was their only marking. I would like to know what this bird is since I can’t find it in any literature. I saw these two birds in a McDonald’s parking lot in West Palm beach. Maybe they escaped from their owners. What are they please!
do you have photos?