Agelaius tricolor
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The tricolored blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae. Its range is limited to the coastal areas of the Pacific coast of North America, from Northern California in the U.S. (with occasional strays into Oregon), to upper Baja California in Mexico.
This highly social and gregarious bird forms the largest colonies of any North American landbird, with a single breeding colony often consisting of tens of thousands of birds. The common name is taken from the male bird's distinctive white stripes underneath their red shoulder patches, or "epaulets", which are visible when the bird is flying or displaying.
Despite the similar names, this bird is not related to the Old World common blackbird, which is a thrush (Turdidae). The species' call sounds slightly more nasal than that of the red-wing's - a nasal kip and a sharp check. The male's song is a garbled on-ke-kaaangh.
The bird migrates south during the colder seasons to Mexico and back to northern California during the warmer seasons. The tricolored blackbird does not have any officially recognized subspecies, although there is a population in southern California that may require genetic evaluation... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Tricolored Blackbird sighting in San Diego on a given day, based on 414 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 212th most-seen of the 386 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Tricolored Blackbird in San Diego on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tricolored Blackbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Tricolored Blackbird sightings, San Diego has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Sacramento (United States, under 5%) and San Francisco (United States, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tricolored Blackbird is recorded against all the birds logged in San Diego (414 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
