Euphagus carolinus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The rusty blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) is a medium-sized New World blackbird, closely related to grackles ("rusty grackle" is an older name for the species). It is a bird that prefers wet forested areas, breeding in the boreal forest and muskeg across northern Canada, and migrating southeast to the United States during winter.
Formerly abundant, the rusty blackbird has undergone one of the most rapid declines of any abundant bird species in North America in recent years, for reasons that are not well understood. Adults have a pointed bill and a pale yellow eye. They have black plumage with faint green and purple gloss; the female is greyer. "Rusty" refers to the brownish winter plumage. They resemble the western member of the same genus, the Brewer's blackbird; however, Brewer's has a longer bill and the male's head is iridescent green.
Their breeding habitat is wet temperate coniferous forests and muskeg across Canada, New England, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Adirondack Mountains in New York and Alaska. Birds usually nest at the edge of ponds and wetlands with the cup nest located in a tree or dense shrub, often over the water. Emerging dragonflies... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Wood Buffalo National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Kluane National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Gros Morne National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Cape Breton Highlands National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 11 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rusty Blackbird sighting in Washington on a given day, based on 1,955 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 118th most-seen of the 267 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Rusty Blackbird in Washington on a given day, against under 5% in May to February, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rusty Blackbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 20 cities where we can rate Rusty Blackbird sightings, Washington ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Montreal (Canada, under 5%).
Same family: Icteridae
The closest relatives of the Rusty Blackbird that you can see in Washington (family Icteridae, New World Blackbirds and Orioles) are Common Grackle (about 40%), Red-winged Blackbird (about 40%) and Brown-headed Cowbird (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rusty Blackbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Washington (1,955 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.
