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Tricolored Blackbird in Trouble in California

10,000 Birds

More than 99% of the population of Tricolored Blackbirds ( Agelaius tricolor ) live within the state of California and form the largest colonies of any North American passerine bird 1. The Results of the 2014 Tricolored Blackbird Statewide Survey confirm that this species is in rapid decline. See Birdchick’s post here.

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What’s in a Name: Brewer’s Blackbird

10,000 Birds

Blackbirds, as a family, often have those simple descriptive names that are easy to mock ( Yellow-rumped Warbler , ugh) until a non-birder comes describing such a species to you and asking for an ID. Which is not to say that the creeping hand of ornithological nepotism has never touched the blackbirds.

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Thousands of Tricolored Blackbirds Saved Through Farmer/Conservationist Partnership

10,000 Birds

For a birder, a sighting of a Tricolored Blackbird is a treat. Add in habitat loss, and the population of Tricolored Blackbirds has plunged enough to necessitate listing it as a Bird of Conservation Concern on the U.S. federal level, and a Species of Special Concern in California. (For

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The Blackbird that is a Meadowlark – Red-breasted Blackbird in Trinidad

10,000 Birds

Blackbirds are blackbirds. In the new world all meadowlarks and blackbirds, along with grackles, cowbirds, orioles, oropendulas, and some others, are members of the family Icteridae , the New World Blackbirds. adult male Red-breasted Blackbird showing off its namesake. female Red-breasted Blackbird.

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The origins of tanagers, warblers, and sparrows are coming into focus

10,000 Birds

A new paper out this month attempts to paint the most comprehensive picture yet of the origins and diversification of the American sparrows, wood-warblers, blackbirds, cardinals, tanagers, and their kin, an enormous group of birds more than 800 species strong. Burns, John Klicka, Scott M. Lanyon, and Irby J.

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What is the National Bird of Sweden?

10,000 Birds

The national bird of Sweden is the Blackbird Turdus merula , otherwise known as the Common Blackbird or Eurasian Blackbird , though, of course, in Sweden it is not known by any of those names but as Koltrast.* The Blackbird became the Swedish national bird as a result of a newspaper poll in 1962.

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Do nine-primaried oscines represent 16 different families?

10,000 Birds

For those of us in the Americas, nine-primaried oscines are among our most familiar and beloved birds: finches; sparrows, juncos, and towhees; warblers; blackbirds, meadowlarks, and orioles; cardinals and grosbeaks; and tanagers. Icteridae : New World blackbirds, orioles, meadowlarks, etc. Zeledoniidae : Wrenthrush. Barker et al.

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