Sorry, I couldn't resist the acronym. Thanks to Mark Holmgren who pointed
out that Guy McCaskie had written about Rusty Blackbird identification. I
ferreted out the paper (wish I had them all in my head) from Calif. (now
Western) Birds 2: 55-68, 1971. He made no mention of dark eye color in
Rusty, although calling attention to the fact that immature male Brewer's
might show a brownish plumage together with a paleish eye. Such a bird
still wouldn't look quite like a Rusty, in my experience, and shouldn't be
around after the fall. He did comment on similarities between Rusty and
"female-plumaged" Red-winged Blackbirds, perhaps including first-basic
males, and used eye color as a primary distinction, as well as some
elements of pattern (back-rump contrast, for example).

This is timely, as the Washington Bird Records Committee will be reviewing
most of the Rusty Blackbird reports for Washington during our semiannual
meeting this weekend. I'm glad the exchange prompted further research. I
believe two of the records we are reviewing are of "brown-eyed" Rusties,
but we're left with no evidence that RUBL ever has a brown eye. You're
right, Larry, someone had better get out and photograph these birds. Or at
least find some more definitive evidence in the literature. Some big
museums have a lot of soft-part colors on the tags of their specimens, and
that might be the source of information; not enough RUBL specimens here in
the Northwest, though, as far as I know.

I agree entirely with Michael Price and Mike Patterson that acronyms are a
time-saver, even though I don't really like them much as they fall like
snow from the mouths of government bureaucrats.

Let's solve this blackbird thing PDQ, or at least ASAP.


Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound email: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416