To a Canadian birder, a winter memory can be a fractious thing. Birds that you can identify in a nano second in the fall, return in the spring and have you wondering what they are. It can be particularly difficult when they’re out of context, ie not in the habitat where you would expect to see them.
This little beauty arrived in my yard last week. I was so excited when I looked out the window and saw this “new” bird.
As I do every spring, I grabbed my trusty field guide to identify this mysterious visitor. I started at the sparrows, as the bird was feeding on the ground. I knew it was time for the migrating sparrows to start visiting the yard, so I started looking in sparrows.
And then I kept looking…
And as I do every spring, I closed the bird book with a snap when I realized I was – AGAIN – looking up a female red-winged blackbird. Can’t someone put little identity tags on these birds??
The identification of female red-winged blackbirds is now firmly, positively, permanently entrenched in my brain. At least until next spring.
Yeah, I also have gone, ‘what the?’ with Mrs. Red-Winged several springs past. I’m pleased to say that my recognition was a little quicker this spring, a mere double-take.
I don’t know what it is about female Red-winged Blackbirds but I’ve done the same thing a few times. They look so different from the males. Their markings are quite striking. Wishing you a new lifer soon!
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