THE WORLD BIRDS - An Online Bird Book
ICTERIDAE
Blackbirds
Order Passeriformes Family Icteridae
ICTERIDAE
The Icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colorful birds, restricted to the New World. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange or red. The majority of icterid species live in the tropics, although there are a number of temperate forms. They inhabit a range of habitats, including scrub, swamp, forest, and savannah. Temperate species are migratory. Icterids are variable in size, and often display considerable sexual dimorphism. Their size varies 15-52 cm. One unusual adaptation shared is they can open their bills strongly rather than passively, allowing them to force open gaps to obtain otherwise hidden food. Some use their gaping motion to open the skins of fruit to obtain the soft insides, and have long bills adapted to the process. Others such as cowbirds have shorter stubbier bills for crushing seeds. orioles will drink nectar. The nesting habits of these birds are similarly variable.
The Icteridae are described in the following articles: black birds, caciques, cowbirds, grackles, meadow lark, and orioles.
The Icteridae are described in the following articles: black birds, caciques, cowbirds, grackles, meadow lark, and orioles.
Blackbirds
Order Passeriformes Family Icteridae
These blackbirds are not to be confused with the European blackbird Turdus merula which is called Blackbird. The New World blackbirds have a a diet of mainly seeds and insects, with seeds usually being predominant. The males are mostly dark with often some colorful patches. The females are drab and some resemble New World sparrows.
Genus Agelaius
Blackbird,_Red-shouldered Agelaius assimilis Found: Cuba
The Red-shouldered Blackbird was previously considered a subspecies of the Red-winged Blackbird. Unlike the Red-winged Blackbird, the female Red-shouldered Blackbird is not streaked, but solidly black.
Image by: 1) Bernd Kirschner 2) Jerry_Oldenettel 3) David_Ascanio
Blackbird,_Red-winged Agelaius phoeniceus Found: North America, Central America
The male Red-winged Blackbird has all black plumage except for a mainly red shoulder patch. At rest, a yellow border to the red shoulder patch is visible. Female has dark brown upperparts; dark striped underparts.
Similar to: Pine Siskin. Pine Siskin has striped underparts; female Red-winged Blackbird has blurry underparts.
Similar to: Tricolored Blackbird. Tricolored Blackbird is restricted to near the west coastal areas of North America. Male Tricolored's lower shoulder patch is bright white while the male Red-wing's is yellowish. Female Red-winged Blackbird is reddish brownish; female Tricolored Blackbird tends more to gray.
Image by: 1, 6) Dick Daniels - North Carolina 2, 3)
Dick Daniels - Ontario 4) Mdf
5) Dick - Wyoming 7) Alan D. Wilson 8) Ted Grussing - ArizonaSimilar to: Pine Siskin. Pine Siskin has striped underparts; female Red-winged Blackbird has blurry underparts.
Similar to: Tricolored Blackbird. Tricolored Blackbird is restricted to near the west coastal areas of North America. Male Tricolored's lower shoulder patch is bright white while the male Red-wing's is yellowish. Female Red-winged Blackbird is reddish brownish; female Tricolored Blackbird tends more to gray.
1) Juvenile male 2, 3, 4, 5) Female 6, 7, 8) Male
Blackbird,_Tawny-shouldered Agelaius humeralis Found: Cuba, Haiti
The Tawny-shouldered Blackbird has mainly black plumage; tawny shoulder patch.
Image by: 1) ZankAm - Cuba 2) Victoria_Gracia - Cuba
Blackbird,_Tricolored Agelaius tricolor Found: North America (Oregon to northern Mexico)
The male Tricolored-winged Blackbird has all black plumage except for a mainly red shoulder patch. At rest, a white border to the red shoulder patch is visible. Female has dark gray upperparts; dark striped underparts.
Similar to: Red-winged Blackbird. Tricolored Blackbird is restricted to near the west coastal areas of North America. Male Tricolored's lower shoulder patch is bright white while the male Red-wing's is yellowish. Female Red-winged Blackbird is reddish brownish; female Tricolored Blackbird tends more to gray.
Image by: 1) Alan Vernon - Californai 2) K_Schneider 3) Tsuru8 2) Marcel Holyoak - California 3, 4) Maggie Smith - California 5) Charlie Westerinen - Soldier Hollow, Utah, USASimilar to: Red-winged Blackbird. Tricolored Blackbird is restricted to near the west coastal areas of North America. Male Tricolored's lower shoulder patch is bright white while the male Red-wing's is yellowish. Female Red-winged Blackbird is reddish brownish; female Tricolored Blackbird tends more to gray.
1, 2) Female 3 - 7) Male
Blackbird,_Yellow-shouldered Agelaius xanthomus Found: Puerto Rico.
The Yellow-shouldered Blackbird is closely related to the red-winged blackbird.
Image by: 1, 2, 3)
Mike Morel / USFWS - Puerto Rico
Genus Agelasticus
These species are found in South America.
Blackbird,_Pale-eyed Agelasticus xanthophthalmus Found: South America
The Pale-eyed Blackbird has black plumage; pale eye. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.
Image by: 1) Joao_Quental 2) Claudio Timm
Blackbird,_Unicolored Agelasticus cyanopus Found: South America
The male Unicolored Blackbird has uniformly black plumage. Female has brown upperparts; dirty yellow underparts. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.
Image by: 1) Cephas 2, 3) Gustavo Durán - Argentenia 4) Lip
Kee Yap - Argentenia 5) Nick_Athanas - Brazil 6) Claudio_Timm - Brazil 7) Bernard_Dupont - Brazil
_male.jpg){kind=link}
1) Pair 2, 3, 4) Female
Blackbird,_Yellow-winged Agelasticus thilius Found: South America
The male Yellow-winged Blackbird has black plumage with a yellow shoulder patch which may be hidden at rest. Female has black streaks on brown; light supercilium. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
Image by: 1, 2, 3, 4)
Claudio Timm - Brazil
5) dFaulder -
Costanera Sur Nature Reserve, Buenos Aires, Argentina 6) Dick Daniels - Lake Titicaca
1, 2) Female 3, 4, 5, 6) Male
Genus Amblyramphus - 1 species
Blackbird,_Scarlet-headed Amblyramphus holosericeus Found: marshes of South Amercia
The Scarlet-headed Blackbird has mainly black plumage with reddish-orange head, nape, upper breast.
Similar to: Yellow-hooded Blackbird. Scarlet-headed Blackbird has reddish-orange head; male Yellow-hooded Blackbird has yellow head.
Image by: 1, 4, 5, 6) Dick Daniels - National Aviary 2) Sandy Cole - National Aviary 3) Claudio
Timm - Brazil 7) Ken Erickson 8) Cristiano Crolle - Esteros del Iberà, ArgentinaSimilar to: Yellow-hooded Blackbird. Scarlet-headed Blackbird has reddish-orange head; male Yellow-hooded Blackbird has yellow head.
Genus Anumara - 1 species
Blackbird,_Forbes's Anumara forbesi Found: Brazil
The Forbes's Blackbird has black plumage. It inhabits forest edge, adjacent marshy areas and even sugarcane plantations. Its diet includes fruit, insects and possibly nectar taken from the flowers of sugarcane.
Image by: 1) Arthur Grosset
Genus Chrysomus
Blackbird,_Chestnut-capped Chrysomus ruficapillus Found: South America
The male Chestnut-capped Blackbird has black plumage with chestnut cap, face, throat. Female has brown upperpart; lighter brown underparts. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, French Guiana, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Similar to: Shiny Cowbird (female). The female Shiny Cowbird has a longer finer bill and a pale supercilium compared to the female Chestnut-capped Blackbird.
Image by: 1) Cephas 2, 3, 4, 8)
Claudio Timm 5, 6)
dFaulder - Argentina 7) Dario
SanchesSimilar to: Shiny Cowbird (female). The female Shiny Cowbird has a longer finer bill and a pale supercilium compared to the female Chestnut-capped Blackbird.
2) Juvenile male 3) Female (white not usual) 4) Female 5 - 8) Male
Blackbird,_Yellow-hooded Chrysomus icterocephalus Found: South America
The male Yellow-hooded Blackbird has mainly black plumage with yellow, nape, upper breast. Female has olive-brown upperparts; olive throaat, breast; brown belly.
Similar to: Scarlet-headed Blackbird. Scarlet-headed Blackbird has reddish-orange head; male Yellow-hooded Blackbird has yellow head.
Image by: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Dick Daniels - National Aviary
7) Darren
Bellerby - Jurong Bird Park, Singapore 8) Trisha Shears Similar to: Scarlet-headed Blackbird. Scarlet-headed Blackbird has reddish-orange head; male Yellow-hooded Blackbird has yellow head.
1 - 4) Female or juvenile male 5 - 8) Male
Genus Curaeus
Blackbird,_Austral Curaeus curaeus Found: Argentina, Chile
The Austral Blackbird has black plumage, Usually found in forest. They are fond of nectar.
Image by: 1) Cephas 2) Adam Paul 3) Cristián_Pinto 4) Dick Daniels - Chile 
Genus Dives
Blackbird,_Cuban Dives atroviolaceus Found: Cuba
The Cuban Blackbird has glossy black plumage; brown eyes.
Image by: 1) Laura Gooch - Havana 2) Dino_Kanlic 3) Mark_Peck
.jpg){kind=link}
Blackbird,_Melodious Dives dives Found: Mexico, Central America
The Melodious Black has glossly black plumage with a bluish gloss; brown iris; black legs, feet.
Image by: 1) Cephas 2) Beilzian - Belize 3) Nick Athanas - Costa Rica 4) dFaulder - Costa Rica
.jpg){kind=link}
Blackbird,_Scrub Dives warczewiczi Found: Ecuador, Peru
The Scrub Blackbird has black pluage; silver down-curved bill.
Imge by: 1) Cephas 2) Nick Athanas - Ecuador
3) Francesco_Veronesi - Ecuador
.jpg){kind=link}
Genus Euphagus
This genus has two species. The adult males have mainly black plumage and a bright yellow eye; the females are dark gray-brown. They build cup nests, and the female alone incubates the eggs. They are gregarious outside the breeding season. Both species feed on seeds and insects.
Blackbird,_Brewer's Euphagus cyanocephalus Found: North America
The male Brewer's Blackbird has black plumage; bright yellow eye. Female has dark gray plumage; most have dark eyes. Males and females are usually found in groups.
Similar to: Brown-headed Cowbird. Brown-headed Cowbird has larger (more stout) bill than Brewer's Blackbird. Brewster's Blackbird has lighter eyes. The male Brown-headed Cowbird is obvious for its brown head.
Similar to: Boat-tailed Grackle, Common Grackle, Great-tailed Grackle. Brewer's Blackbird has a smaller bill.
Similar to: Rusty Blackbird. Brewer's Black prefers open habitat, Rusty Black bird prefers wooded. Rusty Blackbird has bigger bill than Brewer's Blackbird. Male Brewer's are usually more glossy than male Rusty. Most female Brewer's Blackbirds have a dark eye. If a female Brewer's Blackbird does have pale eyes, they are not as bright as the pale yellow eyes of a female Rusty Blackbird.
Image by: 1) Alan D Wilson - Banff National Park, Alberta 2) Len Blumin - California 3) Alan Vernon 4)
Dick Daniels- Wyoming 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) Dick - California Similar to: Brown-headed Cowbird. Brown-headed Cowbird has larger (more stout) bill than Brewer's Blackbird. Brewster's Blackbird has lighter eyes. The male Brown-headed Cowbird is obvious for its brown head.
Similar to: Boat-tailed Grackle, Common Grackle, Great-tailed Grackle. Brewer's Blackbird has a smaller bill.
Similar to: Rusty Blackbird. Brewer's Black prefers open habitat, Rusty Black bird prefers wooded. Rusty Blackbird has bigger bill than Brewer's Blackbird. Male Brewer's are usually more glossy than male Rusty. Most female Brewer's Blackbirds have a dark eye. If a female Brewer's Blackbird does have pale eyes, they are not as bright as the pale yellow eyes of a female Rusty Blackbird.
1) Juvenile 2) Female with pale eye (uncommon) 3 - 6) Females with dark eye 7 - 10) Male
Blackbird,_Rusty Euphagus carolinus Found: North America
The breeding male Rusty Blackbird has black plumage; pale yellow eye. Breeding female has dark gray plumage; pale yellow eyes. Nonbreeding bird has rusty-brown upperparts.
Similar to: Brewer's Blackbird. Brewer's Black prefers open habitat, Rusty Black bird prefers wooded. Rusty Blackbird has bigger bill than Brewer's Blackbird. Male Brewer's are usually more glossy than male Rusty. Most female Brewer's Blackbirds have a dark eye. If a female Brewer's Blackbird does have pale eyes, they are not as bright as the pale yellow eyes of a female Rusty Blackbird.
Image by:
1) Mdf - Algonquin Provincial Park, Canada 2) Jeff Whitlock - Texas 3, 8) Seabrooke Leckie 4) Ed Galliard - New York 5, 6) Dick Daniels - Southport, North Carolina 7) Stylurus - Michigan 9) Don Faulkner - South Carolina Similar to: Brewer's Blackbird. Brewer's Black prefers open habitat, Rusty Black bird prefers wooded. Rusty Blackbird has bigger bill than Brewer's Blackbird. Male Brewer's are usually more glossy than male Rusty. Most female Brewer's Blackbirds have a dark eye. If a female Brewer's Blackbird does have pale eyes, they are not as bright as the pale yellow eyes of a female Rusty Blackbird.
1, 2) Nonbreeding female 3) Breeding female 4 - 7) Nonbreeding male 8, 9) Breeding male
Genus Gnorimopsar - 1 species
Blackbird,_Chopi Gnorimopsar chopi Found: South America
The Chopi Blackbird has shiny black plumage; grooved lower mandible.
It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
Image by: 1) Cephas 2) Beatrice Murch - Argentina 3, 4, 5) Claudio
Timm - BrazilIt is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
Genus Dolichonyx - 1 species
Unlike the orioles and caciques, bobolinks have their nest on the ground, usually in dense vegetation.
Bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus Found: Grassland - The Americas
Description: The male bobolink has mainly black plumage plus a creamy nape and a white center of back and shoulders. The female has light brown plumage with some black on the back and flanks. The bobolink is about 17 cm long and has a finch like bill. Their nest is build on the ground surrounded by high grasses. Males are often polygynous.
Range: Breeds in southern Canada and the US, but not in the west. Winters in South America
Habitat: Grassland and fields.
Diet: Mainly seeds, especially those of crops. Also insects, larvae, spiders, snails.. .
Conservation status: Least Concern.
Image by: 1) Howard_Patterson - Maryland 2) Vitalii Khustochka - Winnipeg, Canada 3) Alan D. Wilson - Oregon 4) Andrea WestmorelandRange: Breeds in southern Canada and the US, but not in the west. Winters in South America
Habitat: Grassland and fields.
Diet: Mainly seeds, especially those of crops. Also insects, larvae, spiders, snails.. .
Conservation status: Least Concern.
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Breeding male
Genus Gymnomystax - 1 species
Blackbird,_oriole Gymnomystax mexicanus Found: northern South America
The oriole Blackbird has mainly black upperparts; black eye-patch; bright yellow head, nape, underparts. Its closest relative may be the red-bellied grackle.
Image by: 1) Cephas 2) Ygor_Oliveira - Brazil 3) Paolo_Costa_Baldi 4, 5) Barloventomagico - Venezuela 6) Nick Athanas - Venezuela 
Genus Nesopsar - 1 species
Blackbird,_Jamaican Nesopsar nigerrimus Found: Jamaica
The Jamaican Blackbird is found in the highlands of Jamaica. It has all dark plumage; short tail. It has behavior similar to woodpeckers.
Image by: 1) Dominic Sherony 2) Nick_Athanas
Genus Oreopsar - 1 species
Blackbird,_Bolivian Oreopsar bolivianus Found: Bolivia
The Boivian Blackbird has all black plumage and is cowbird shaped. It likes habitat near cacti and nests in cliffs.
Image by: 1) Paul Jones
Genus Pseudoleistes
Marshbirds prefer marshland or grasslands habitats, similar to the Red-winged Blackbirds of North America. Their closest relatives may be the saffron-cowled blackbird.
Marshbird,_Brown-and-yellow Pseudoleistes virescens Found: South America
The Brown-and-yellow Marshbird has brown upperparts, throat, upper breast, tail; yellow remainder.
It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Similar to: Yellow-rumped Marshbird. Yellow-rumped Marshbird has yellow rump; Brown-and-yellow Marshbird
Image by: 1) Cephas 2) Claudio_Timm 3) zephrax 4) Dario Niz - UruguayIt is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Similar to: Yellow-rumped Marshbird. Yellow-rumped Marshbird has yellow rump; Brown-and-yellow Marshbird
Marshbird, Yellow-rumped Pseudoleistes guirahuro Found: South America
The Yellow-rumped Marshbird has blackish-brown upperparts, throat, upper breast, tail; yellow underparts, rump.
It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Similar to: Brown-and-yellow Marshbird. Yellow-rumped Marshbird has yellow rump; Brown-and-yellow Marshbird does not.
Image by: 1) Cephas 2, 3, 4)
Dario Sanches in Brazil It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Similar to: Brown-and-yellow Marshbird. Yellow-rumped Marshbird has yellow rump; Brown-and-yellow Marshbird does not.
Genus Xanthocephalus - 1 species
Blackbird,_Yellow-headed Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus Found: southwest Canada, west and central USA, Mexico
The male Yellow-headed Blackbird has mainly black plumage; yellow head, breast. Female has mainly brown plumage; dull yellow throat, breast.
Image by: 1) Michelle Lamberson - British Columbia 2, 7) Alan D. Wilson - Oregon 3) Phil Norton, USFWS 4) Dave Minke, USFWS 5) Eugene Beckes 6) Dick Thies
1, 2, 3) Female 4, 5, 6, 7) Male
Genus Xanthopsar - 1 species
Blackbird,_Saffron-cowled Xanthopsar flavus Found: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay
The male Saffron-cowled Blackbird has mainly black upperparts with yellow crown, rump; yellow face with black lores; yellow underparts.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Lip Kee 4) Dario Niz _-Argentina-6.jpg){kind=link}
