BLACKBIRD, RED-WINGED (Agelaius phoeniceus), a common North American bird, breeding from the Gulf of Mexico northward. The feathers of the male are black, tipped with rust colour in winter, the wing-coverts being scarlet and buff. The female is brownish black above, and white streaked with black below, with the wing-coverts tinged with red. The bird is gre garious and possesses a liquid song and a shrill alarm note.
There are several subspecies, like the Sonoran, and San Diego red-wing. The bicoloured blackbird (A. gubernator californicus) is found in coastal Oregon and California; the tricoloured blackbird (A. tricolor), in the valleys of Oregon, California and Lower California.
Other species are the tawny-shouldered red-wing (A. Jiumilis) of Cuba, and the yellow-shouldered red-wing (A. xanthomus) of Porto Rico.