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Brewer's Blackbird

© Fred J. Kane

The Brewere's Blackbird is the most handsome bird of the blackbird race.

Bird watchers observe the Brewer's Blackbird throughout California. Also the bird breeds in the Western United States and Western Canada. In the Western Canadian Provinces bird watchers see the Brewer's Blackbird in British Clumbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. The bird avoids the higher terrain in the snow covered winter months. In these winter months the bird migrates south and inhabits many parts of Mexico.

The eight inch tall Brewer's Blackbird with its pointed beak and black feathers has a purple sheen to its head. Also when the sun shines on the bird it displays greenish irredescence on its body. The eyes of the male Brewer's Blackbird has yellow coloring. In the autumn and winter months the blackbird may have gray edging on its upper parts. The female Brewer's Blackbird has dark gray feathers with some irredescent black on its back, tail and wings and the female has brown eyes.

The Brewer's Blackbird is a short distance migrant. The bird is not normally migratory but they do move around searching out new and more plentiful sources of food. They move into the Sierra Nevada Range and the Cascades as the weather warms in the area.

The Brewer's Blackbird nests in a great variety of environments. They nest on the ground, in dense foliage and in trees or shrubs. The birds build an open cup type of nest of grass and twigs mixed with mud just above the ground in vegetation with a protective canopy. The bird lines the nest with fine materials.

After mating the female blackbird lays between three and seven gray eggs with dark marks and normally the Brewer's Blackbirds have one brood each year.

The female blackbird sits on the eggs for about two weeks and the new born birds hatch. About two weks later the young chicks begin to fly.

Most bird wtachers see the Brewer's Blackbird in urban area yards, open fields, meadows, parking lots, along rivers and streams and most birders see them in small flocks. The blackbird is attracted to most common landscapes and is quite happy in watered lawns. It is one of the bird species able to take advantage of urbanization.

The Brewer's diet consists mainly of grain, insects, seeds and they will supplement their diet with fruit. When the fruit in the orchards is ripe the bird doesn't hesitate to take a share of the early cherries and will visit other orchards for ripe fruit. In spring and summer the bird will feed on anthropods, including spiders, other insects, snails and crustatceans. In the winter and autumn months they feed mjaily on seeds. They prefer to feed on the ground and use mostly wet and moist areas. The Brewer's Black has adjusted well to urban habitats. They especially like the large expanse of lawns and parking lots with many drops of food scraps.

The copyright of the article Brewer's Blackbird in Birding is owned by Fred J. Kane. Permission to republish Brewer's Blackbird in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.