On RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS: here in winter and at feeders; and habitat
differences for both them and SONG SPARROWS between the west and east
coasts:

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS are indeed here year-round, but at least the males are
more conspicuous in their brighter spring plumage, often displaying and
singing. The feeder attendance is more interesting. On the east coast
RED-WINGS are much more of a regular suburban yard and feeder bird, not
restricted to their reedy or cat-tail filled favorite wetland habitats,
while here I rarely see them far from those reedy wetlands and they don't
come to feeders nearly as often in our area.

On a similar note I've noticed that our SONG SPARROWS here in western
Washington rarely stray from places with a good amount of fairly wild shrub
layer, from blackberry thickets in sunny areas to forest with a decent shrub
layer. I rarely see them here in landscaped suburban yards far from an
"overgrown" "empty" lot, greenbelt or park. On the east coast SONG SPARROWS
are well adapted to suburban landscaped yards and are seen at feeders much
more often. I suspect that both these species have become better adapted to
human altered landscaped on the east coast after hundreds of years of
"civilization" there, though there may also be ways that the eastern birds
were better preadapted to suburban style "yards".

Stewart Wechsler
West Seattle
mailto:ecostewart at quidnunc.net

Alyssa Sampson responded:

Aren't they resident year round? Maybe I'm wrong. Stranger to me was
that I had one at my sunflower feeder a week ago. I have only seen one
visit once before, in April 2003. I don't live next to a wetland. The
nearest I am certain it could have been visiting from is Greenlake.

Alyssa Sampson
Maple Leaf
Seattle

On Jan 25, 2004, at 12:50 PM, Irene Wanner wrote:

Two RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS at Leschi Marina (Lake Washington). Is this
early? I know they come there before I hear them other places, but
end of
January seems new.

Irene
Seattle Central District
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