There are more
than one harbingers of spring in the bird world, and this beuatiful creature is one of them, the Redwinged Blackbird. Redwinged Blackbirds have a distinctive call and just (literally) screams “spring” to me. Their colors remind me of my native country Germany but also of a great Pearl Jam song. So far I have only seen males, who are elegantly black with vibrant epaulets that give them their name. And just like with the Grackles, they have a majestic side but can also look quite funny, as can be seen below. Females and youngsters look alike, with beige and brown speckles and patterns. You can see a tiny bit of that on the back of one of them here.
