Red-winged Blackbird Spouses?

I met these male and female Red-winged Blackbirds about 2 minutes apart - could they soon be in wedded bliss? Well, it's possible, though as you can see in the background of the 1st picture (the male) there was competition in the meadow. (My recollection is that that wasn't all of his competition either.)

And while Red-winged Blackbird pairs form more of a relationship than yesterday's Zabulon Skippers do, they're not exactly monogamous either. The males attempt to claim and hold a territory they think the females will want to live in. Only the toughest, fittest males can hold onto these prime spots. The males will then mate with as many females as there are who want to raise their children there, so a male will frequently have more than 1 "wife". (The females probably do cheat on the males a bit too, so maybe this evens out?) 

While the female will do most of the work of raising her nestlings, it does sound like the male whose territory she's in will help gather food. Of course, if he's got 4 females in his territory, his time will be split 4 ways.

I have occasionally been confronted by multiple males, presumably when they felt I was too close to a nest, so there probably is communal cooperation between males once breeding season transitions into offspring-raising season.

June 3, 2023 at John Clyde Native Grassland Preserve
Photo 300858691, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

The female in the picture below appears to be acquiring building material for a nest. (There's no reason to run to Lowe's or Home Depot when all the material is just lying around for the taking.)

June 3, 2023 at John Clyde Native Grassland Preserve
Photo 300858916, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tussock Moth Herd

Image
Some caterpillars are usually seen in large numbers (like Armyworm Moth caterpillars and Eastern Tent Caterpillars ), while most are more solitary. The Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars (more about them are here ) seem to be slightly social. I'll sometimes see them alone, but more often I'll see them in groups of 2-9 members. In the 1st picture below, you can see there is a clear size difference in some of these individuals. I'm almost certain the little one in the middle is in an earlier instar than the others (though they lack the colorful tufts of fuzz in their earliest instars). August 31, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167477945, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) In the picture below, it's clear that these caterpillars don't require a lot of personal space. August 31, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167477979, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Read more

Copper Underwing Caterpillar

Image
I believe this caterpillar to be a Copper Underwing [1]. At least the coloring and the dorsal hump (near the left end of the caterpillar) seem consistent with the Copper Underwing. These caterpillars are not what you'd consider picky eaters; my Caterpillars of Eastern North America describes their diet thusly: Many wooded plants including apple, basswood, blueberry, cherry chestnut, current, grape, greenbrier, hawthorn, hickory, lilac, maple, oak, poplar, raspberry, rhododendron, viburnum, Virginia creeper, and walnut. Wikipedia adds: Ash, privet, honeysuckle, rose, and service trees. That's a pretty wide range of trees and shrubs. One of the challenges of finding them is that they could be almost anywhere; the other challenges are: Their green coloring blends in pretty darned well with the average leaf. They have a habit of feeding underneath leaves, so they're probably not visible when looking down at their location. They have a tendency to move from leaf-to-leaf; if you
Read more

Eastern Pondhawks

Image
I'm going to try something different today with my Eastern Pondhawk pictures. I'm going to let ChatGPT do my blog today. (ChatGPT is an AI program that you can converse with in a pretty human way; an explanation of it is here .) Me:  Can you tell me something interesting about the Eastern Pondhawk? ChatGPT:  The Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) is a dragonfly species that is native to North America. It is a medium-sized dragonfly, with a wingspan of about 3 inches, and can be found in a variety of habitats, including wetlands, marshes, and ponds. One interesting characteristic of the Eastern Pondhawk is its mating behavior. Male Eastern Pondhawks are known for their territorial behavior and will defend their territory from other males. They will patrol their territory and will try to mate with any females that fly into their territory. Another interesting fact about the Eastern Pondhawk is that it is a fast flyer and is able to hover in midair. It is also an import
Read more