Adopt the tricolored blackbird

Agelaius tricolor

Critically Imperiled according to NatureServe

Habitat: Freshwater marshes (breeding) and open pasture (migrating and winter)

Diet: Mostly insects, sometimes seeds and grains

Behavior: Highly gregarious, forming breeding colonies in the thousands

Native to the far western United States and northern Baja California, Mexico, the tricolored blackbird closely resembles its near-relative, the red-winged blackbird, but is distinguished by white edging on the striking patch of red on its wing. This bird is what’s known as a “colonial nester,” forming breeding colonies of sometimes tens of thousands of birds in freshwater marshes primarily in the Central Valley of California. Due to the draining of its nesting habitat to expand agricultural production, the population of the tricolored blackbird has dropped dramatically over the past century. The US Fish & Wildlife Service reviewed the status of the tricolored blackbird in 2019 and determined that it did not qualify for listing under the Endangered Species Act because the current population of at least 100,000 individuals appears to be stable and threats have been ameliorated somewhat thanks in part to the California Endangered Species Act.

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