Behavior:

• Blackbirds are social birds that can live in colonies of more than 100 birds.
• Females choose a nesting area in plants, lawns, buildings, golf courses, sage brush, fields, marsh, grasslands, and woodlands.
• The female will build the open nest cup from plant materials, lined with dry grassy material, and use mud or manure to cement the nest together.
• The blackbird’s eggs are varied in color and pattern to protect from predators. The female may lie up to 7 eggs at a time with the young hatching approximately 17 days.
• These birds will eat almost anything; from seeds to insects, but have been known to eat small frogs, young ring-necked pheasants, and brewer’s sparrows.

Identifying Characteristics:

• Males are glossy black with metallic greenish-blue and purple feathers on the body and yellowish eyes. Females are brown, darker on the tails and wings and have dark eyes.
• Blackbirds have long legs, round head, and body with a thick long beak.
• Their long legs give them a stop-go kind of walk, making its head jerking like a chicken’s head.