“Red Winged Blackbird, Fierce Protector and Catalyst”

Symbolizing inner strength, protection, and mastery
of domain, Red Winged Blackbirds are a long-regarded member of the prairie community. The male coloration is the most well-known, with a deep glossy black and red-to-yellow shoulder patches. During breeding season, males do all they can to get noticed, perching high in their territories (wetlands, marshes fields) and belting out their metallic conk-la-ree! song. Who could resist that piercing gaze?

Females maintain a lower profile, foraging through vegetation for food and nesting materials. She belts out a few chit or check calls in response to singing males. She is brownish in color with streaks of white and deep brown, and a whitish eyebrow. She is the one to build the cup nest with strings of plant material and mud amidst vertical shoots of bulrush or cattails, often hidden from view. You may notice Red Winged Blackbirds flying in and out of bulrush at a shoreline, tending to young.

Both males and females defend nests from intruders and predators, and males will fend off those larger than himself. Due to scarcity of marsh habitat, several females will nest in any one male’s territory. In autumn and winter, Red Winged Blackbirds will flock and roost with other blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds, and starlings.

Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with maple float frame.

This painting is on exhibition and for sale at Anne Irwin Fine Art in Atlanta, GA for the month of May 2024.

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/
https://www.audubon.org/bird-guide