Attention all bird watchers: This bird is very dear to me partly because its unique to Collins Marsh Wildlife Area and also my family has a lot of memories going out with a canoe equipped with a binoculars and camera. This is the article from my hometown, but they don't offer the column online so here you go. Enjoy
"Alert Marsh Visitor may see, hear Bird"
The Valders Journal
Thursday, April 19, 2007
The yellow-headed blackbird is a sleek-looking, 9 1/2 inch black bird with an obviously bright yellow head. It usually perches proudly atop a cattail stem.
The yellow-headed blackbird is somewhat erratic in its territory. It is uncommon in Wisconsin and we seldom see them. They are usually found in North and South Dakota. However, we do occasionally see them at Horicon Marsh, in Collins and other wetlands.
Yellow-headed blackbird nest in colonies, preferring cattails marshes and reed beds in deeper water and further out from shore. They are found in deeper water than the more common re-winged blackbirds. The mail yellow heads over winter in Mexico and return to Wisconsin in late April or early May.
The call of the yellow-headed blackbird is quite unlike that of the red-winged. The re-wing has a very beautiful sound. They are very common in our area and we see them almost daily. The low, raspy sounds of the yellow-headed are followed by a crescendo and a drawn out krawk joins in.
The nest of the yellow-headed is bulky and about six inches high, with a fairly deep nest bowl. The mother lays an average of about four eggs, each one bluish and heavily dotted with brown. They are stuffed deep inside the nest.
She incubates the eggs for 12-13 days. Young leave the nest when they are 9-12 days old. They can't fly yet but are adept at holding on and scrambling among the reeds. Any slip may mean death by drowning.
A female is courted with the male's unmusical song and proud display of white wing, and she succumbs to his advances. However, he is seldom satisfied with just one female. Polygamy is fairly common among yellow-headed blackbirds. Each female builds her own nest, which she completes in up to four days.
So, my advice is to venture out on cool spring mornings and listen for the sqawky base notes. Scan the marshes looking for bright Easter egg-sized yellow spots poking just above the cattails.
If you're lucky, you just might see one of these beautiful birds.
MALE
FEMALE WITH NEST
EGGS
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