Yellow-headed Blackbird

Taxobox
name = Yellow-headed Blackbird
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1

---

image_caption = Male
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Icteridae
genus = "Xanthocephalus"
genus_authority = Bonaparte, 1850
species = "X. xanthocephalus"
binomial = "Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus"
binomial_authority = (Bonaparte, 1826)

The Yellow-headed Blackbird, "Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus", is a medium-sized blackbird, and the only member of the genus "Xanthocephalus".

Adults have a pointed bill. The adult male is mainly black with a yellow head and breast; they have a white wing patch sometimes only visible in flight. The adult female is mainly brown with a dull yellow throat and breast.

Their breeding habitat is cattail marshes in North America, mainly west of the Great Lakes. The nest is built with and attached to marsh vegetation. They nest in colonies, often sharing their habitat closely with the Red-winged Blackbird. During the breeding and nesting season the males are very territorial and spend much of their time perched on reed stalk and displaying or chasing off intruders.

These birds migrate in the winter to the southwestern United States and Mexico. They often migrate in huge flocks with other species of birds. These blackbirds are only permanent residents in the USA of the San Joaquin Valley and the Lower Colorado River Valley of Arizona and California. It is an extremely rare vagrant to Western Europe, with some records suspected to refer to escapes from captivity.

These birds forage in the marsh, in fields or on the ground; they sometimes catch insects in flight. They mainly eat seeds and insects. Outside of the nesting period, they often feed in flocks, often with other blackbirds.

This bird's song resembles the grating of a rusty hinge.

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

* [http://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/yellow_headed_blackbird_info.htm Yellow-headed Blackbird Information and Photos] - South Dakota Birds and Birding
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Yellow-headed_Blackbird.html Yellow-headed Blackbird Species Account] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i4970id.html Yellow-headed Blackbird] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfExr7E7l3w] - video of a female Yellow-headed Blackbird in Annapolis Valley, NS, Canada, well outside of its normal range.