Yellow-headed Blackbird

Photo by Richard Day/Daybreak Imagery

These stunning birds are on the extreme eastern edge of their range in Ohio, and are quite rare here. Most years, only a handful of territorial males appear in the western Lake Erie marshes, and it seems likely that most of them remain unmated.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

At-a-Glance

• Incubation: 11-13 days

• Clutch Size: 3-5 eggs

• Young Fledge: 9-12 days after hatching

• Typical Foods: insects and seeds

• Ohio Status: Species of Special Interest

Description
Male yellow-headed blackbirds have a yellow head, neck and breast, with some white markings also on the breast. The rest of the body and the bill are black. Females are duller in color and do not have white wing marks.

Habitat and Habits
This blackbird can be found in mixed-emergent marshes, often dominated by cattails. They sometimes use stands of giant reed (Phragmites australis). As beautiful as the males are, they'll win no contests for singing ability. They deliver comical sounding croaks and wails -- interesting, but decidedly unmusical.

Reproduction and Care of the Young
Females build nests of marsh vegetation over the water. These birds nest in colonies and both parents bring food to the nest for the altricial young.