Yellow-headed Blackbird Gallery

The Yellow Head

Wherever Do They Get Their Name?
Even a distant glance of a male yellow-headed blackbird will show you where they get their name, but there’s no doubt up this close. Unfortunately the gray sky in the picture on the right doesn’t make for the most pleasing background, if he had landed a few inches lower I would have had a lovely green background …

For that image, I accidentally had the camera set at ISO 1600 and underexposed the image to boot, which hurts the image quality noticeably in the dark feathers, but unfortunately I can’t blame that on the weather.

Close up-view of a male yellow-headed blackbird's head at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Close up-view of a male yellow-headed blackbird's head at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Ready Or Not, Here We Come

One of my favorite signs of spring is the arrival of yellow-headed blackbirds. At Ridgefield, South Quigley Lake is the best spot to watch them, as the males may hang out at the edge of the lake next to the auto tour, providing a front row view as they sing (if you can call it that) and display for the females. Many times they stay in the interior of the marsh or flush if you drive closer, but sometimes you get lucky and find a tolerant bird.

Male yellow-headed blackbird perched atop a cattail at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Male yellow-headed blackbird perched atop a cattail at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Male yellow-headed blackbird perched atop a cattail at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Male yellow-headed blackbird perched atop a cattail at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Six Hours of Blackbirds

Male yellow-headed blackbird sings while perched atop a cattail at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Male yellow-headed blackbird sings while perched atop a cattail at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
On this morning I spent six hours watching blackbirds. While I like to spend a lot of time watching my wildlife subjects, that’s a little excessive even for me. It’s also a bit of an exaggeration, as I spent part of my morning at Ridgefield hiking the Kiwa Trail or driving the auto tour.

But most of those six hours were indeed spent watching the yellow-headed and red-winged blackbirds as they sang and fought and displayed. The funny thing was, on the drive to the refuge I was feeling restless and didn’t think I’d spent much time in one spot.

The yellowheads weren’t staying still for long, either staking out their territory, chasing off rivals, or getting harassed by a red-winged female who flew up from her well-hidden nest and gave grief to all intruders. This made photographing them a challenge, as I also had to find a clear view through the cattails and get a background that I liked, and often had other photographers parked behind me.

While I did take pictures of other birds that day, it was the yellowheads that drew me out of bed before dawn, so I focused my efforts on them. I wanted one with the male facing towards me, as they often sing with their backs to the road as they try to impress the other blackbirds. Most of the time I got their backs or their sides, but sometimes I got lucky as with these fine fellows who really gave it their all, heads thrown back to really belt out their song.

The Objects Of Their Affection

Female yellow-headed blackbird preening at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Female yellow-headed blackbird straddling the cattails at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge
Female yellow-heads are harder to see, as they often stay down low in the reeds. It is the males who often betray their presence by singing nearby and dropping down into the reeds at the same spot over and over. Sometimes the females will pop up higher to check out their suitors or to preen and clean their feathers.
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Last modified: September 6, 2008