Red Winged Blackbirds

Red winged blackbirds were on my mind last weekend. A sibling said red winged blackbirds are her favorite birds because they remind her of a happy, carefree, summer day as a teen. Last Saturday morning I was standing on the shore of a wetland searching for shorebirds with a bird class. Across the wetland at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge were a pair of sandhill cranes. The sandhill cranes were walking slowly and majestically as cranes tend to do, minding their own business, poking their heads down into the grass to eat. A male red winged blackbird flew at one. Sandhill cranes have a bustly rear end much like those fancy dresses in colonial times. The blackbird struck a crane right in the bustle. The crane was startled and jumped up awkwardly. The red winged blackbird did it again and then landed right in front of the crane in the grass. A male red winged blackbird weighs all of 2 ounces. The females are about 1 ounce. That is a lot of chutzpah for a 2 ounce bird. The crane ran at the blackbird and the blackbird flew off only to return and bop the crane in the bustle again. The crane and the blackbird were playing chicken with each other. We suspected the blackbird was defending a nest which the crane was unknowingly approaching. The crane and the blackbird did some more terrorizing of each other. I thought the blackbird had more attitude than it's size warranted. The next day was Sunday. I drove in Columbus Township on County Road 17. A red tailed hawk flew low right in front of my car and landed on a fence post next to the side of the road. As I drove by I saw another red winged blackbird strike that big hawk on the right shoulder just seconds after it landed. The hawk wasn't expecting it and nearly was thrown off the fence post. Again I was impressed by the attitude of this little bird. What had the hawk been doing that warranted such aggression - bothering the blackbird nest? So I decided to read up a little bit on red winged blackbirds. I've always thought their beaks looked a little different. The upper and lower beak don't come together on the face like most birds. Red winged blackbird beaks have most of their strength in opening rather than closing. They use the beak opening muscles to open grass seeds and other seed pods to get at the protein inside. They also eat bugs, dragonflies, and even frogs. The males have red and yellow patches on their wings. They can hide or show their military like patches as much as they like to. Mostly they want to be noticed. If red winged blackbirds were humans at a bar, they'd be the type of guy to seat themselves so they could watch their own reflection in the mirror. Oh, have I said too much? The female red winged blackbird does not have red wings. She is brown and speckled and spends her time in the tall grasses trying not to be noticed. The red winged blackbird song is "Cong-a-leeeeee!" When I hear them in the spring, I know the season has arrived. The males are known to be polygamous and will defend the territory of 10 females. But, like many animals where the male has a "harem," the female will mate with the bird(s) of her choosing. Many nests contain eggs fertilized by more than one male. They are known to be aggressive in defending their territory from other birds and animals but tend to leave humans alone. The nest usually has 3 or 4 eggs. The young are born naked and blind but are able to leave the nest after 11 days.