Male Red-winged Blackbirds!

This time of year Red-winged Blackbirds leave their southern winter homes and fly back north to breed.

Males do everything they can to get noticed by the females while letting other males know "This is MY spot".

  Red-winged Blackbird, female 

The males loud call, "Conk-cha-ree", along with their habitat of spreading their tails and wings and puffing out their shoulder patches, sure gets my attention! They also like to perch in high places, while the females keep a low profile in the grasses and cattails.

 Male Red-winged Blackbird, showing off 

To learn more about these interesting songbirds visit http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/red-winged-blackbird