March 16, 2017
Rusty Blackbird male, Alaska, June
Rusty Blackbird male, Alaska, June
Long time readers of this column know how I dislike common names of our North American birds which do not incorporate any descriptive physical feature of the species, especially in families of look alikes.  On the blackbird side of the blackbird/oriole complex, with the exception of Brewer’s (what, does this species live around drinking establishments?) we’re mostly good to go—Red-winged, Yellow-headed.  Perfect.  Because of the common name you’ll know one when you see one.

Rusty Blackbird, a seemingly vivid descriptor, presents however a slightly different issue.  If you knew this species only from its breeding ground in remote swamps and bogs on the northern tundra of Alaska and Canada, you’d be scratching your head over the name.  As illustrated by the opening photograph, there is seemingly nothing rusty about this bird.

The common name is derived, of course, from the rusty edgings on the feathers in fresh plumage, seen in fall and winter when small flocks of Rusties can be found in the wetlands and swamps of the southeast.  This is obviously where the species was first seen, documented, and named, but good luck with finding them that time of year too, as they tend to flocks by themselves in inaccessible locations, rarely intermingling with the huge mixed winter flocks of other blackbird species.

Due partly to the remoteness of its preferred habitat, both for breeding and overwintering, Rusty Blackbird was, until recently, the least known and studied of North America’s blackbirds.  Once fairly common, researchers realized in the mid-‘90s that Rusty Blackbird populations were declining quickly and dramatically, upwards to 95% in forty years, and the word “disappearing” is often used to describe the species.

Imagine the odds, then, of birders finding Rusty Blackbirds overwintering in the Phoenix area, in the same place, two years in a row!  Odder still is the fact that my images from last year seem to indicate the 2016 pair of Rusties just upstream from Coon Bluff on the Salt River were females, whereas the single bird I was able to photograph this year appears to be a male.

Scientific consensus says there are multiple reasons for the decline of this species, the foremost being the loss of southeastern wetlands habitat favored by the overwintering population.  Other factors are contaminants on the breeding grounds and collateral losses suffered from the widespread poisoning of the nuisance flocks of other wintering blackbirds which depredate croplands.  Unlike other blackbirds, Rusties do not typically roost near or use croplands for winter foraging.

I was shocked, especially this year upon discovering the bird I take to be a male, at how strikingly different and, alright, beautiful, the rusty areas on this species’ fresh plumage made it appear as it consorted with Great-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds.  Finding this species on its breeding ground in Alaska in alternate plumage was an adventure.  Finding them here in Arizona in their colorful basic array was an unexpected visual treat.
Rusty Blackbird male, Arizona, February
Rusty Blackbird male, Arizona, February