Rusty Blackbird

In the early afternoon of 7 November 2014, I drove over to the east end of Fish Creek Provincial Park and was lucky enough to see two of these beautiful Rusty Blackbirds. IUCN Status: Vulnerable. I very rarely see these birds – in fact, I think I have only ever seen one once before and no photos. It was interesting to watch this one pick up and then toss aside endless fallen leaves along the edge of a tiiny creek, to check underneath them for food. Eventually, it did find a big, fat, juicy water worm of some kind, and ate it. As you can see from the photo, this bird is camouflaged quite well in those surroundings.

“The Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are completely puzzled as to what is the cause. They are relatively uncommon denizens of wooded swamps, breeding in the boreal forest and wintering in the eastern U.S. In winter, they travel in small flocks and are identified by their distinctive rusty feather edges and pallid yellow eyes.” From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rusty_blackbird/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_blackbird

rustyblackbird.org/