{"id":4574,"date":"2012-03-02T04:00:29","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T11:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4574"},"modified":"2025-10-30T10:35:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:35:20","slug":"red-winged-blackbirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/02\/red-winged-blackbirds\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-winged Blackbirds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red-winged Blackbirds are birds that I associate with spring, the males begin calling perched on top of reeds, cattails, grasses and shrubs and flash their brightly colored coverts to attract a mate.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Red-winged Blackbird (Agelius phoeniceus) – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/350, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Red-winged Blackbirds are one of the most abundant\u00a0songbirds in North America. They prefer marshes and wetlands and build cup-shaped\u00a0nests woven with grasses and mud.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Red-winged Blackbird with nesting material – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I photographed the female Red-winged Blackbird above I had been walking on a narrow path through a stand of mangroves to get to a tidal lagoon to photograph shorebirds.<\/p>\n

When I heard a rustling sound and this female with nesting material in her bill popped up from the ground to perch on the top of the mangrove. I took a few pictures and quickly went on my way.<\/p>\n

I didn’t want to disturb or disrupt her from building her nest.<\/p>\n

Lately I have heard the Red-winged Blackbird<\/span><\/a> males calling more frequently, it won’t be long before they begin the nesting season in earnest.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-winged Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Red-winged Blackbirds are birds that I associate with spring, the males begin calling perched on top of reeds, cattails, grasses and shrubs and flash their brightly colored coverts to attract a mate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25,704,2000,419],"tags":[4004,4151,3813,3483,5132,4070,173,4077,4062,4258,780,4182,4450,4324,4018,3996],"class_list":["post-4574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-red-winged-blackbirds","tag-adult","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-coastal","tag-female","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-male","tag-mangroves","tag-nest-building","tag-nesting-material","tag-nesting-season","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-sky","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t