Yellow-headed Blackbird

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalusOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Blackbirds and Orioles (Icteridae)

Codes: Common Name: YHBL Scientific Name: XANXAN ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179043

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Overview

Yellow-headed Blackbird: Medium-sized blackbird with black body, bright yellow hood and breast, and distinct white wing patches. Bill, legs and feet are black. Forages in low vegetation and on the ground. Feeds on insects, larvae, snails, seeds, and grains. Strong direct flight on rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Yellow-headed Blackbird: Breeds from central British Columbia, northern Alberta, and Wisconsin south to southern California, northern New Mexico, and Illinois. Spends winters in southern U.S. and northern Mexico. Nests in freshwater marshes; during migration and winter prefers open, cultivated lands, fields, and pastures.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"croak"

Interesting Facts

Depending on the quality of his territory, a male Yellow-headed Blackbird may be able to acquire up to six mates. Males who acquire new territory do not destroy broods sired by the previous territorial male.

They have one of the most unique bird calls. It has been described as a strange mixture of honking, gurgling and strangling noises.

In winter, single-species flocks may form, sometimes consisting of all males or all females. Large foraging flocks move in a rolling fashion, birds from the back of the flock fly over the rest to the front.

A group of blackbirds has many collective nouns, including a "cloud", "cluster", and "merl" of blackbirds.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

● Song: "croak"

● Foraging & Feeding: Yellow-headed Blackbird: Diet consists of beetles, weevils, grasshoppers, dragonflies, spiders, ants, and seeds of panic grass, ragweed, smartweed, and pigweed. Forages in low vegetation and on the ground; may hawk insects in the air.

● Breeding & nesting: Yellow-headed Blackbird: Three to five dark-marked, pale gray or green eggs are laid in a bulky, deep basket nest woven into emergent vegetation over water. Nest is made with wet vegetation, which tightens as it dries. Incubation ranges from 11 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Yellow-headed Blackbird: Male is only North American bird with a yellow head and black body. Female is distinguished from other blackbirds by yellow throat and breast.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with rapid wing beats.

Yellow-headed Blackbird Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Yellow-headed Blackbird: Breeds from central British Columbia, northern Alberta, and Wisconsin south to southern California, northern New Mexico, and Illinois. Spends winters in southern U.S. and northern Mexico. Nests in freshwater marshes; during migration and winter prefers open, cultivated lands, fields, and pastures.

^BreedingPolygamous, Colonial

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight2.8 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America