Ha! ha! There really aren't 24 Red Winged Blackbirds here. But there have been a lot of visits this winter by at least one male RWB. This winter is almost shaping up to be the Great Blackbird Hang-out. I am utterly unable to make sense of this change in Blackbird behavior. Or at least I have so few facts. A surmise is that one rogue male has figured out that reliable stocks of food are available at a site a few hundred feet from his base of operations (our nearby pond.) It is even possible he's an outcast and isn't being given space at the pond. But I think that is unlikely. This fellow is healthy: fine plumage with a nice sheen. That leaves us with the opportunistic model. And it leaves us with the question "why aren't the other blackbirds here as well?" Winter has a long way to go yet. Perhaps we will see some more fascinating blackbird behavior.
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