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Red-winged blackbird

Agelaius phoeniceus · Unprotected and nuisance birds

Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus): Male: black with bright red shoulder patches (epaulets), typically bordered with yellow; patches can be concealed by body feathers. Female and young: streaky brown with a buff eyebrow; can resemble sparrows but differ in behavior, have a spikier bill and darker lower belly. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the red-winged blackbird map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Red-winged blackbird perched on a reed stem
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash
Scientific name
Agelaius phoeniceus
Family
Icteridae
In North America
Native
Range
Breeds from southern Yukon across Canada to Nova Scotia and south through the U.S. and Central America to Costa Rica; winters over much of the U.S., especially the south.
Biology

How to identify it

Male: black with bright red shoulder patches (epaulets), typically bordered with yellow; patches can be concealed by body feathers. [1][2]

Female and young: streaky brown with a buff eyebrow; can resemble sparrows but differ in behavior, have a spikier bill and darker lower belly. [1][2]

Length 17-23 cm. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Breeds in marshes, brushy swamps and hayfields; forages in cultivated land and along water edges; in the non-breeding season flocks gather in farm fields, pastures and feedlots. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Males arrive before females in spring in the north; migrates in flocks and is present year-round in many areas [1][2]

Forages mostly walking on the ground, in flocks with other blackbirds and starlings outside the breeding season [1][2]

Mostly insects and seeds (about three-quarters of the annual diet is seeds) [1][2]

Song a rich, musical o-ka-leeee! [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for removal or nuisance take

These authorities list this species as nuisance, invasive or unprotected wildlife that may be taken. This is not a game season.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Breeds from southern Yukon across Canada to Nova Scotia and south through the U.S. and Central America to Costa Rica; winters over much of the U.S., especially the south.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. National Audubon Society · reviewed 2026-09-30

    National Audubon Society

  2. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe