Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Yellow-headed Blackbird
 Tough to find things in nature that begin with the letter X. Thank heaven for the yellow-headed blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. The Yellow-headed black bird is a bird that is native to the marshes and prairie wetlands of the west. During the winter they migrate down to the southwestern United States and Mexico. Even though we are not really in their range here in the eastern part of Minnesota we do occasionally get them nesting this far east. It seems that this is getting to be a more common occurrence. This is not good news for the red-winged blackbirds that live in the eastern half of North America. Since the yellow-headed blackbirds are larger they will often displace the red-winged blackbirds from prime breeding spots in locations where birds share the habitat.




14 comments:

Springman said...

Great photo! Would like to report we have a small population of Yellow headed black birds here in Michigan, that much further east than you. Maybe like the White pelicans they are spreading eastward. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more!

mick said...

Great photo - that yellow head is very beautiful.

Anni said...

Wow...it's gorgeous. The last time I saw one of these in real time was way back over 20 years ago, in Colorado. You did good for the letter "x"

MERLIN FALCON

Carole M. said...

a striking bird; great photograph to share here!

Roger Owen Green said...

Yay, Latin. Nice shot.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

theconstantwalker said...

A stunning bird to see... great capture.

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

Very timely post, in view of Springman's single-minded pursuit of this species!

Judy said...

Well, that is not exactly sharing, now is it!!

Jama said...

I'm having trouble just pronouncing it! but gorgeous photos, as always.

Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said...

Perhaps tough to find, but you found a double X! Impressive!

ChrisJ said...

I have never seen one here in the Southwest but I'm not usually around their habitat. I MUST start looking for more marsh birds. Good one for X.

Linda said...

Beautiful shot of this gorgeous bird!

Pat said...

What a beautiful bird! This is a great shot.

Misty DawnS said...

These are such awesome looking birds. I'd love to see one some time!