The very busy female RWBB

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Did you know that “Red-winged Blackbirds are one of the most polygamous of all bird species [?] They have been observed to have as many as 15 females nesting in the territory of a single male. On average, a single male has roughly five females in its territory.” (WildlifeUnlimited, All About Birds)

The females build their nests by weaving “together supporting pieces of vegetation and then intertwine the walls of the nest onto these supports.” (WildlifeUnlimited). “One nest picked apart by a naturalist in the 1930s had been made by weaving together 34 strips of willow bark and 142 cattail leaves, some 2 feet long. When finished the nest is 4 to 7 inches across and 3 to 7 inches deep.” (All About Birds)

Here in our wetland marshes, the nests are very often set in the crooks of the branches of Pond Apple trees.

It sometimes seems there are RWBB nests everywhere in the spring and early summer. That may be because . . . “Each pair of Red-winged Blackbirds raise 2-3 broods per season. Each time they build a new nest, which keeps the nest from becoming infected with parasites that could kill the baby birds.” (source, WhatBird).

The RWBB‘s are very active now, so hopefully we’ll soon see their nests popping up again for the new season!

30 thoughts on “The very busy female RWBB”

  1. They’re also very generous. I’ve read that Cowbirds will puncture an RWBB egg and lay their own in the nest and the RWBB will raise the cowbird chick along with her own!

    Your images are lovely! The females look so different from the males don’t they.

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  3. They have a long history in the Lowcountry. RWBB and Bobolink were the main ‘pest’ of the old rice plantations. We were out with an Eco group in old marshes, near an old delta plantation. We drifted up to the wild rice and found it being consumed by RWBB. Turns out rice fields in the 1700-1800’s had 24 hour guards waving rags and branches chasing them during harvest time. Who knew 😳

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  5. what is their order of activity? build nest, have children, find food?

    *Yishai Rasowsky* (972) 54-848-2245 (972) 54-751-6040 *Ask the kollel | שיעורי תורה * *GitHub | Linkedin *

    On Sun, Mar 13, 2022 at 3:04 PM Birder’s Journey wrote:

    > Birder’s Journey posted: ” Did you know that “Red-winged Blackbirds are > one of the most polygamous of all bird species [?] They have been observed > to have as many as 15 females nesting in the territory of a single male. On > average, a single male has roughly five females in its” >

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  6. The Red-winged Blackbird is one of Florida’s most common birds and, as such, is all-too-often overlooked by photographers. Not only are they beautiful (in my opinion), observing and trying to get images of their courtship and nesting activities is simply fascinating.

    Thank you for sharing this terrific series!

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    • Oh yes, Ann, the males are also very busy – showing off, singing all their beautiful songs, displaying their magnificent red epaulets, and flying from here to there. Many of our local birding spots have boardwalks that come extremely close to where the birds are nesting and otherwise active all year round.

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    • The female RWBBs are certainly not as noticeable as the males…. Probably due to their subtle plumage and busy preoccupation with nest building in the low marshy foliage, and later tending to their young. But when they’re on the nest, they play an active part gathering food, along with the dads, and they’re very protective when intruders approach.

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