BirdNote; Red-winged Blackbird Harem
- Transcript
BirdNote®
Red-winged Blackbird Harem
Adapted from a script by Frances Wood
This is BirdNote.
[Call of Red-Winged Blackbird]
Welcome to spring! … Let’s step into this lively cattail marsh… and surround ourselves with the sound of glossy black birds with bright red shoulder-patches. These are male Red-winged Blackbirds.
[Call of Red-Winged Blackbird; lots of ambient marsh sound]
The male brandishes his red epaulets to warn away other male Red-winged Blackbirds from his patch of cattails. At the same time, he sings to lure females into his marshy territory… many females, in fact.
While most bird species pair up and become a twosome during the spring breeding season, the Red-winged Blackbird has a different strategy. One male will claim a territory and attract up to a dozen females, to form a harem.
These females look nothing like the males. They’re smaller, with mottled brown backs and heavily streaked bellies.
Each female weaves an intricate nest, often suspended over the water. Scientists examined one nest that contained 142 cattail leaves, 705 pieces of grass, and 34 strips of willow bark.
And while she’s building that amazing nest, the male is busy fending off other males and courting more females for his harem.
[Call of Red-Winged Blackbird]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
###
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by W.W.H Gunn.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2016 Tune In to Nature.org March 2013/2016/2020 Narrator: Michael Stein
ID # 032205RWBLKPLU RWBL-01b-2009-03-25-
- Series
- BirdNote
- Episode
- Red-winged Blackbird Harem
- Producing Organization
- BirdNote
- Contributing Organization
- BirdNote (Seattle, Washington)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip-f493be01589
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip-f493be01589).
- Description
- Episode Description
- As spring begins, the male Red-winged Blackbird brandishes his red epaulets to warn other males away from his patch of cattails. At the same time, he sings to lure females into his marsh...many females, in fact. One male may attract up to a dozen females. The male is dressed for defending his territory and attracting a harem; she, for blending into the cattails.
- Created Date
- 2016-03-07
- Asset type
- Episode
- Topics
- Science
- Subjects
- Birds
- Rights
- Sounds for BirdNote stories were provided by the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Xeno-Canto, Martyn Stewart, Chris Peterson, John Kessler, and others. Where music was used, fair use was taken into consideration. Individual credits are found at the bottom of each transcript.
- Media type
- Sound
- Duration
- 00:01:45.195
- Credits
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:
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Producing Organization: BirdNote
Writer: Wood, Frances
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
BirdNote
Identifier: cpb-aacip-33ef65569d8 (Filename)
Format: Hard Drive
Generation: Master
Duration: 00:01:45
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
- Citations
- Chicago: “BirdNote; Red-winged Blackbird Harem,” 2016-03-07, BirdNote, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed July 4, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-f493be01589.
- MLA: “BirdNote; Red-winged Blackbird Harem.” 2016-03-07. BirdNote, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. July 4, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-f493be01589>.
- APA: BirdNote; Red-winged Blackbird Harem. Boston, MA: BirdNote, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-f493be01589