It normally lives in the northern Rockies and plains into Canada. Intelligent and curious, the Black-billed Magpie is loud and very communicative. They are gregarious and enjoy traveling together. Their dramatic coloring helps them stand out from other birds. Black-billed Magpie Image: Tom Koerner/ USFWS Mountain-Prairieīlack-billed Magpies are stunning birds with long blue-black tails. They prefer to stay with others of their own species and travel in groups.ħ. Spot Bobolinks in fallow fields, prairies, and well-irrigated meadows. His nape is cream-colored and his wings and back are a mix of white and black. Both males and females are brown with dusky charcoal-colored wings until breeding season, when the male molts into dark black feathers.īetween March and August, the male Bobolink has a completely black underbelly and face. Bobolink Male Bobolink | image by USFWS Midwest Region via FlickrĪ common omnivore closely related to blackbirds and cowbirds, the Bobolink is brown, white, and black bird that ranges across the United States. They frequent marshes and swamps, and are known for clinging to reeds and cattails.Ħ. These birds are known to be relentless singers and can be heard in large multi-species groups that include cowbirds, grackles, or other types of blackbirds. His entire body, including his beak and eye, are black, except for a small patch on the upper covert feathers of his wings. The most common blackbird in all of North America, the Red-winged Blackbird gets its name from the plumage of the male. In the end, the adoptive mother, which is usually smaller than the baby, will raise the cowbird chick as her own. After mating, a female will secretly lay eggs in another bird’s unattended nest. Males are not above using shopping centers as a backdrop for their mating displays!įemale Brown-headed Cowbirds do not raise their own chicks. These omnivorous birds congregate in large, noisy groups outside of human dwellings. The Brown-headed Cowbird is found across North America in the summer, and remain all year in states along the east coast and Gulf coast. Brown-headed Cowbird Image: Patricia Pierce / flickr / CC BY 2.0 They are omnivores that feed on anything from trash to small mammals or berries.Ĥ. Some mate for life, and parents work together to feed young. They can be semi-domesticated, can occasionally be taught to mimic human speech and have been known to use tools in the wild to get to food or water. Their wings are narrower as well, enabling them to glide on pockets of air for longer than crows can. Native to Mexico, the United States west of the Rockies, and nearly all of Canada, the Common Raven is similar to a crow, but larger. They travel in groups and form tight flocks to escape from predators, such as hawks. Males impress females during mating season by doing a dance with their wings outstretched. They are seen throughout Mexico and as far north as the Canadian tundra.Įuropean Starlings have iridescent black feathers punctuated by yellowish white dots. What he couldn’t have expected was that the European Starling would rapidly spread across the whole of North America. Not originally native to the United States, the European Starling was introduced in the late 1800s by a man who wanted New York’s Central Park to contain all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays. Mated pairs of crows often nest repeatedly in the same site year after year. Their diets consist of anything from fruit and seeds to fish, dog food, or trash. They are cooperative parents that work together to feed their chicks. Male and female American crows look identical. American Crows adapt well to human infrastructure and development some have been tamed and partially domesticated. These omnivorous birds are both large and intelligent. One of the most ubiquitous birds in North America, the American Crow has inspired stories, books, and even movies. American Crow Image by Jack Bulmer from Pixabay Learn more about eighteen species of dark-feathered friends found in North America by reading on. Their lives may not be glamorous, but they are important. From deserts to forests to agricultural fields, black birds serve a purpose, whether to control nuisance insects or to scavenge roadkill. Many black-feathered birds are important to ecosystems across North America. But there is plenty of intelligence, cunning, and unique qualities to be found among the different types of black birds. In fact, many people do because they assume these drably-hued birds have little to offer. It can be easy to overlook the birds that don’t have brightly colored feathers.
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