On Feb 9, 2011, at 11:39 AM, Roger Moyer wrote:

> Does anyone out there in Tweeterland know how much space a Red-winged Blackbird claims for a territory? I was driving by a small patch of swamp. Less than 1000 sq. ft and there were two males on territory. I am curious if this patch would support both or perhaps three pairs.

BNA has the answer

http://bna.birds.cornell.edu.ezproxy.spl.org:2048/bna/species/184/articles/behavior

> Mean territory size is approximately 2,000 m2, but size varies greatly; territories are smaller in marsh than upland habitats, e.g., in Ontario, marsh = 153?2,890 m2(n = 97; Weatherhead and Robertson 1977), upland = 2,214?29,235 m2(n not given; Eckert and Weatherhead 1987a). Combining many studies, mean marsh territory size = 1,625 m2(n = 9 studies); upland = 2,895 m2(n = 4 studies) (Table 3.1 in Searcy and Yasukawa 1995).

1 square meter is about 10 square feet. So that swamp is rather small for one never mind three.

I recently noticed that we have a territorial Red-winged Blackbird on Capitol Hill not far from Interlaken Park on 16th and 17th Ave E. A first for me in this 300 feet "upland" site.

I first heard and then saw him in wet mid-January. It took a moment to realize that is a RW Blackbird song then found him in the tree with three females. Ah, a migrating group, I thought. And he's trying to impress the babes. Or perhaps Capitol Hill is turning into a swamp in the January rain.

A week later I was walking through the same area and he was still there. Vigorously announcing his territory (two avenues!) then defending it from two intruding males. Flying from a perch on 16th to a tree behind 17th to sing off a couple of male RWB intruders (and annoy the Band-tailed Pigeons).

Seems like an odd place to set up a territory.

Is there a hidden pond/swap in someone's back garden he has his eye on?

Or perhaps they're all inexperienced youngesters?
--
Kevin Purcell (Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA)
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