Date: 1/5/25 6:31 am From: Allen Chartier <amazilia3...> Subject: Re: [birders] Yellow-headed Blackbirds
Fred,
I too got my "lifer" Yellow-headed Blackbird in 1970, when I was 13 years
old. I remember it well because it was in my uncle's backyard (he was a
birder) in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was the 300th species on my life list.
They nested in a large stand of cattails about a mile away with ~100
breeding pairs.
If you check the range maps in field guides (more credible than Wiki), you
will see that it is mainly a western species that barely reaches the Great
Lakes. As others have said, Nayanquing Point has long been the most
reliable breeding locale for them. There is also a reliable site near
Escanaba in the UP. They are also sporadic breeders at Pte. Mouillee and
occasional breeders at Lake St. Clair Metropark and Erie Marsh Preserve.
There was a site north of Lake St. Clair Metropark where they bred
occasionally, a sewage lagoon east of I-94 and south of 21 Mile Road.
They nest in extensive cattail stands, so I suspect that the bird you saw
in St. Clair Shores was a migrant, not a breeding bird (the snow is a clue
too as most leave northern areas in winter). And also, in my opinion it is
a stretch to call their grating, buzzing vocalization a "song", but
technically it is a song.
On Sun, Jan 5, 2025 at 2:27 AM Fred Kaluza <fkaluza...> wrote:
> Back around ‘69 or ‘70, I was a kid in elementary school in St. Clair
> Shores. One spring day at recess, I ventured to a far corner of the
> playground…the low-spot where stood a seemingly perennial marsh of muck and
> old Cattails and melting ice and snow. Perhaps it was during a warm snap
> or after an unusual weather event but…I recall seeing a bird that was new
> to me just singing his head off. I mentioned it to my teacher but she
> seemed more concerned about the mud on my shoes. Anyway…I don’t think I’ve
> ever seen one again here in Michigan. Wiki shows a map with spotty
> coverage for them here but…are these regulars at LEMP or Point Mouillee?
>
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