9 replies to this topic

[Chaseman]

Not used to see this much white on the ones here in Georgia. Is it normal for the wing patch to be white instead of yellow?
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/harley_riders/7543425332/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7543425332_605ce5c40d.jpg[/img[/url] [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/harley_riders/7543425332/]DSC_0054[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/harley_riders/]rxbooch[/url], on Flickr

[RyanWarnerPa]

I think when it's white it's a tri-colored blackbird, but I think they are only native to Ca, it has the mandible shape to be a tri.

[TheBillyPilgrim]

Its a Red-Winged Blackbird. You see quite a bit of variation in the color of their epaulets (shoulder patches), but Tri's will be pure white. The bill on this one also looks fine for a RWBGa would also be way out of range for them, so its always a safe bet everyone you encounter there is a RWB.

[Chaseman]

Its a Red-Winged Blackbird. You see quite a bit of variation in the color of their epaulets (shoulder patches), but Tri's will be pure white. The bill on this one also looks fine for a RWBGa would also be way out of range for them, so its always a safe bet everyone you encounter there is a RWB.

Thanks! I don't encounter very many, but had not seen one with white yet.

[RyanWarnerPa]

Here's a RWB question, does diet effect their coloring?

[TheBillyPilgrim]

Here's a RWB question, does diet effect their coloring?

Yes and no. There's been a lot of research on the topic, and its clear that diet does play some role in most or all carotenoid-based pigmentation (reds and oranges), but there are evolutionary and biological constraints that effect coloration quite a bit. For a lot of species, age and plumage seem to have a much greater effect on coloration than diet, but its pretty difficult to disentangle.

Here's a pretty good article on the subject if you are interested: http://www.ebd.csic.es/jordi/Tella.pdf

[psweet]

Feather pigments can also bleach in the sun, so in late summer you can see some very washed out oranges and yellowish whites on these guys.

[RyanWarnerPa]

Thanks for the info!

[Chaseman]

As always, you guys are a wealth of good, useful info. Thanks!

[RyanWarnerPa]

Very interesting article, I feel a bit dumber after reading it, I needed a dictionary to reference some of the words just so I could follow along. But what I did gain and understand from the article is very interesting.