Sometimes I like to nerd out on a specific bird. The challenge is to learn something new, and I always do. Today's focus is the red-winged blackbird, a perfectly named harbinger of spring in northern ...

Around this time of year, male red-winged blackbirds are at the peak of their beauty - and their aggressiveness. Just ask anyone who's been divebombed by a protective feathered father. Males fluff ...

You could call them “warriors of the wetland.” Or “meanies of the marsh,” even “bullies of the bulrushes.” Or you could call them by their name, red-winged blackbirds. With shiny black feathers and a ...

How are the birds in your yard lately? From using the bird feeders to catching bugs, you will notice all species are very busy feeding their young and defending their territories! It is critical to ...

Birders, including me, can be fickle. In February or March when we hear the first red-winged blackbird of the year sing its distinct three-syllable “On-ka-lee,” we rejoice. The common refrain on ...

Red-wings are found all over North America, barring the very far north and some patches of unlivable habitat. They are here in Juneau, too; two easy places to see them are Kingfisher Pond in the Lemon ...

This leaves us with the western meadowlark, which many people probably do not realize is in the blackbird family, Bullock’s oriole (ditto), and the two remaining “proper blackbirds” — the red-winged ...

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) is seeking information related to the illegal killing of a flock of red-winged blackbirds. Twenty-one red-winged blackbirds, 17 male and ...

We’ve been reminded what winter can be. For the first time in a long while, we find ourselves bracing for the cold whenever we head outside. We’ve had weeks of nightly temperatures below freezing and ...

Editor's note: This following edition of Nature News is a 2017 column, with 2024 updates, including a reference to our most recent snow storm. An internet outage prevented Susan Pike from writing a ...