Tricolored Blackbird (Agelallus tricolor)

  • Post category:PRESERVE
Endangered
Status: California Endangered Species1
  • Has declined seriously in numbers in recent decades
  • loss of habitat contributes to their status
  • Its habit of nesting in dense colonies probably makes it more vulnerable
Habitat:
  • Cattail or tule marshes
Feeding Behavior/Diet:
  • Fodders mostly while walking on ground, but also in shrubs and trees. Hunts in flocks, particularly outside the breeding season
  • Does most of its foraging in open habitats such as farm fields, pastures, cattle pens, large lawns.
  • Feeds on many insects, especially in summer, including caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, and spiders. In fall and winter, eats many seeds of grasses and weeds, and waste grain
Reproduction:
  • Breeds in large freshwater marshes, in dense stands of cattails or bulrushes
  • Nests in colonies
  • 3-5 eggs
  • Incubation is by female, about 11 days
  • Young leave the nest about 11-14 days after hatching.

1HELIX Environmental Planning Carson Creek Preserve Long Term Management Plan Rev 6/15/2021

2 Information provided by National Audubon Society. https://audubon.org