Yellow-headed Blackbird

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesWetlandCup nestMedium · 63 g

What the Yellow-headed Blackbird sounds like

Sonogram of the Yellow-headed Blackbird: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Justin Watts · Call · 140th street marsh, Dakota County, Minnesota, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Yellow-headed Blackbird: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Call · Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve, Dakota, Minnesota, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Yellow-headed Blackbird: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Alarm call · Kasota Prairie, Le Sueur, Minnesota, United States · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

Yellow-headed blackbirds are relatively large blackbirds with large, yellow heads. They measure 8.3–10.2 in (21–26 cm) in length, with a wingspan of 16.5–17.3 in (42–44 cm) and a weight of 1.6–3.5 oz (44–100 g). Adults have a pointed bill. The adult male is mainly black with a yellow head and breast; they have a white wing patch sometimes only visible in flight. The adult female is mainly brown with a dull yellow throat and breast. Immature members of both sexes are brown with duller yellow plumage compared to adult males. Immature males also have some white patches on the wing. Voice: This bird's song resembles the grating of a rusty hinge. Male yellow-headed blackbirds have been observed to have two types of songs, an "accent song" and a "buzz song". The "buzz songs'' have much higher pitch than the accent song, and thus do not echo as well in the dense marshes they live in.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Yellow-headed Blackbird

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 6 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Yellow-headed Blackbird

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 6 countries with regular records, and 8 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Recorded as a rare visitor in Colombia, Cuba, St. Pierre & Miquelon, Bermuda, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua.

About the Yellow-headed Blackbird

The yellow-headed blackbird is a medium-sized blackbird with a yellow head.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Side by side: Yellow-breasted Chat vs Yellow-headed Blackbird · Bobolink vs Yellow-headed Blackbird

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