The term is often limited to smaller species with mostly or entirely black plumage, at least in the breeding male, notably the cowbirds, the grackles, and for around 20 species with " blackbird " in the name, such as the Red-winged Blackbird and the Melodious Blackbird.

It is not closely related to the Red-winged Blackbird, a North American species sometimes nicknamed " redwing ", which is an icterid, not a thrush.

The Red-winged Blackbird ( Agelaius phoeniceus ) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North and much of Central America.

The Red-winged Blackbird is sexually dimorphic ; the male is all black with a red shoulder and yellow wing bar, while the female is a nondescript dark brown.

The Red-winged Blackbird is one of 11 species in the genus Agelaius and is included in the family Icteridae, which is made up of passerine birds found in North and South America.

The Red-winged Blackbird was originally described as Oriolus phoeniceus by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae.

Despite the similar names, the Red-winged Blackbird is not related to the European Redwing or the Old World Common Blackbird, which are thrushes ( Turdidae ).

The " perched display ", with wings held away from the body, is an Agonistic behaviour | agonistic behavior of the Red-winged Blackbird.

The common name for the Red-winged Blackbird is taken from the mainly black adult male's distinctive red shoulder patches, or " epaulets ", which are visible when the bird is flying or displaying.

The call of the Red-winged Blackbird is a throaty check and a high slurred whistle, terrr-eeee.

The range of the Red-winged Blackbird stretches from southern Alaska to the Yucatan peninsula in the south, and from the western coast of California and Canada to the east coast of the continent.

The Red-winged Blackbird inhabits open grassy areas.

The Red-winged Blackbird aggressively defends its territory from other animals.

The Red-winged Blackbird is omnivorous.

The Red-winged Blackbird forages for insects by picking them from plants, or by catching them in flight.

In late summer and in autumn, the Red-winged Blackbird will feed in open fields, mixed with grackles, cowbirds, and starlings in flocks which can number in the thousands.

The Red-winged Blackbird nests in loose colonies.

Image: Blackbird, Red-winged juvenile male RWD. jpg | Juvenile male in North Carolina

* Red-winged Blackbird videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection

* Red-winged Blackbird Bird Sound

Blackbird, Red-winged

* Agelaius phoeniceus Red-winged Blackbird

There is abundant birdlife too – try spotting colourful Red-winged Parrots, Double-barred Finches, or kingfishers.

The taxonomy of this form is little understood, with the relationships between the two isolated Bicolored populations, and between these and Red-winged still unclear.

In South Africa the Red-winged Starling is an important disperser of the introduced Acacia cyclops.

Most authorities treat the Elgon Francolin ( F. ( S .) psilolaema elgonensis ) as a subspecies of the Moorland Francolin, but others have suggested it is a species ( F. ( S .) elgonensis ), a subspecies of the Shelley's Francolin, or even a hybrid between the Moorland and Red-winged Francolins.

A partial list is: Common Loon, Great Blue Heron, American Bittern, American Black Duck, Wood Duck, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Broad-winged Hawk, Ruffed Grouse, American Woodcock, Common Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper, Herring Gull, Barred Owl, Saw-whet Owl, Whip-poor-will, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Tree Swallow, Bank Swallow, Barn Swallow, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Wood Pewee, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Grey Jay, Blue Jay, Common Raven, Common Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Boreal Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, American Robin, Wood Thrush, Hermit Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, Veery, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cedar Waxwing, Common Starling, Red-eyed Vireo, Warblers, Red-winged Blackbird, Rusty Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow and Song Sparrow

Green Island is a nesting area for Herring Gulls, Black-backed Gulls, Cormorants, Barn Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds, and rats.

The Red-winged Tinamou ( Rhynchotus rufescens ) is a medium-sized ground-living bird from central and eastern South America.

Previously, the taxon maculicollis was considered a subspecies of the Red-winged Tinamou, but following SACC it is now considered a species in its own right ; the Huayco Tinamou.

They occur in open or semi-open country and often travel in flocks, sometimes mixed with Red-winged Blackbirds ( particularly in spring ) and Bobolinks ( particularly in fall ), as well as Common Grackle or European Starlings.

In flight, when the field marks are not easily seen, Red-winged can be distinguished from less closely related icterids such as Common Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbird by its different silhouette and undulating flight.

* Passerines: Western Kingbird, Yellow-billed Magpie, Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, Marsh Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, European Starling, American Pipit, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Bullock's Oriole, House Finch, House Sparrow

Birds that can be seen include Ospreys, Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, Great Bowerbirds, White-gaped Honeyeaters and Red-winged Parrots.

Seeds and insects make up the bulk of the Red-winged Blackbird's diet.

Note the golden coloration on this female Red-winged Blackbird's wing.

Females of Tricolored, Bicolored, Red-shouldered and Red-winged Blackbirds can be difficult to identify in areas where more than one form occurs.

Red-winged Blackbirds in the northern reaches of the range are migratory, spending winters in the southern United States and Central America.

Virtually all of North America's raptors take adult or young Red-winged Blackbirds, even Barn Owls, which usually only take small mammals, and Northern Saw-whet Owls which are scarcely larger than a male Red-winged.

* Van Diemen's Land is referenced in the song " The Helm of Ned Kelly " by the group Blackbird Raum on their third album titled " Under the Starling Host "

For example, Xavier is depicted tracking down mutants with a device called Cerebro which amplifies his powers ; the X-Men train within the Danger Room, first depicted as a room full of weapons and booby traps, now as generating holographic simulations ; and the X-Men travel in their widely recognized and iconic Blackbird jet.

Wallace Stevens ' " Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird " is also said to demonstrate how cubism's multiple perspectives can be translated into poetry.

Skunk Works is responsible for a number of famous aircraft designs, including the U-2, the SR-71 Blackbird, the F-117 Nighthawk, and the F-22 Raptor.

Usually hidden beneath a lip, is the entrance to the real nest within, a cup of grass or sedge, nearly as large as the nest of a Blackbird, lined with leaves of oak, beech or other trees.

Their mascot is the Blackbird and they claim three NYSPHSAA titles with Boys Soccer in 1990, and Girls Basketball in 1998 and 2002.

The first, the Lockheed U-2, is still in service ; its successor, the newer, much faster SR-71 Blackbird, was retired in 1998.

The Common Blackbird ( Turdus merula ) is a species of true thrush.

It is also called Eurasian Blackbird ( especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds ), or simply Blackbird, where this does not lead to confusion with a local species.

Two related Asian Turdus thrushes, the White-collared Blackbird ( T. albocinctus ) and the Grey-winged Blackbird ( T. boulboul ), are also named blackbirds, and the Somali Thrush ( T. ( olivaceus ) ludoviciae ) is alternatively known as the Somali Blackbird.

The icterid family of the New World is sometimes called the blackbird family because of some species ' superficial resemblance to the Common Blackbird and other Old World thrushes, but they are not evolutionarily close, being related to the New World warblers and tanagers.

The Common Blackbird of the nominate subspecies T. m. merula is 23. 5 to 29 centimetres ( 9. 25 to 11. 4 in ) in length, has a long tail, and weighs 80 – 125 grammes ( 2. 8 to 4. 4 oz ).

It is therefore sometimes considered a full species, the Tibetan Blackbird ( T. maximus ).

The introduced Common Blackbird is, together with the native Silvereye ( Zosterops lateralis ), the most widely distributed avian seed disperser in New Zealand.

The female Blackbird is also aggressive in the spring when it competes with other females for a good nesting territory, and although fights are less frequent, they tend to be more violent.

The bill's appearance is important in the interactions of the Common Blackbird.

A Common Blackbird has an average life expectancy of 2. 4 years, and, based on data from bird ringing, the oldest recorded age is 21 years and 10 months.

The Song Thrush is not usually gregarious, although several birds may roost together in winter or be loosely associated in suitable feeding habitats, perhaps with other thrushes such as the Blackbird, Fieldfare, Redwing and Dark-throated Thrush.

However, the Song Thrush does not demonstrate the same aggression toward the adult Cuckoo that is shown by the Blackbird.

It is the mountain equivalent of the closely related Common Blackbird, and breeds in gullies, rocky areas or scree slopes.