Birdsong field guide
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
A striking wetland songbird where males feature a brilliant golden-yellow head and breast contrasting with a jet-black body. They are highly social, colonial nesters known for their distinctively harsh, mechanical vocalizations.
What it sounds like
A series of low, guttural croaks followed by a long, screeching mechanical buzz.
Reference call, compare with what you heard
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Field notes
- Males are highly polygynous and may defend a territory containing up to eight different nesting females.
- They are dominant over Red-winged Blackbirds and will aggressively displace them from the most productive deep-water nesting sites.
- Adult males possess large white wing patches on their primary coverts that become highly visible during flight.
- Their song is widely considered one of the most unmusical of North American birds, often compared to the sound of a grinding rusty hinge.
- Unlike many passerines that hop, Yellow-headed Blackbirds typically walk while foraging on the ground for seeds and insects.
Habitat
Deep freshwater marshes with emergent vegetation such as cattails and bulrushes.
Range
Breeds across Western and Central North America; migrates to the Southwestern United States and Mexico for winter.
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