Via the Ohio birding e-mail listserv, a link to a March 26, 2008 eBird article titled Bird Watchers Urgently Needed to Track Rusty Blackbirds, which contains disturbing information about my favorite blackbird to watch forage and to listen to. Rusty Blackbirds migrate north through northwest Ohio primarily in late March and April, but a few can also be found along the lake shore in early May.

From eBird :

Populations of Rusty Blackbirds are crashing! Their numbers have plummeted by as much as 85-98% over the last few decades, according to data gathered for the North American Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count between 1966 and 2006. Your data can help save this species by arming scientists with information about these birds during migration. Bird watchers across North America are being asked to help scientists track migrating Rusty Blackbirds from April 1-7 using the eBird online checklist program. Note: Your observations from outside this time frame are also sorely needed, so please enter any and all Rusty Blackbird records into eBird if possible!

A century ago, the Rusty Blackbird was an incredibly abundant bird. Accounts from the period detail spectacular spring migrations between the species' wintering grounds in the bottomland forests of the southeastern United States and its breeding grounds in the forested wetlands of North America's vast boreal forest. Ornithological reports from New England and southern Canada describe waves of tens to hundreds of thousands of Rusty Blackbirds blackening the earth and clouding the sky in the spring. In many communities, the migration of Rusty Blackbirds was likened to the year's first chorus of tree frog--a sign that spring had finally arrived in the thawing countryside.

Today these reports seem unbelievable since Rusty Blackbirds populations have suffered one of most staggering population declines of any bird in North America. An understanding of the Rusty Blackbird's habitat requirements is urgently needed to conserve its remaining populations. This is especially true during spring migration when Rusty Blackbirds congregate in large flocks which may be particularly vulnerable to habitat losses, blackbird control programs, or other disturbances. Unfortunately, very little is known about the natural history requirements of the Rusty Blackbird during its northward migration.

To address this information gap, eBird is calling on bird watchers for help. April 1-7, look for Rusty Blackbirds on their northward migration. The data collected will help identify important migration stopover locations and habitats for conservation and will help researchers examine whether long-term changes to key migration habitats are responsible for the species' decline. If you are interested in participating, please collect the following information, then submit your data to eBird, taking note of the following:

1. Date, time, location of the observations. Area, traveling and stationary counts are preferred. Be as precise as possible when mapping your location.

2. Rusty Blackbird flock size, including an estimate of number of males vs. females. Answer 'yes' to the question 'do you want to report age/sex or add species comments' at the top of the eBird checklist page.

3. General behavior: flying, feeding, loafing (day), roosting (dawn, dusk, night). Put these in the species comments field.

4. Habitat: agricultural field, scrub-shrub wetland, forested wetland, shores of rivers or creeks, shores of lakes or ponds. Put these in general checklist comments field.

5. Comments: Please include "Rusty Blackbird Survey" in the general checklist comments section so we can determine whether you were specifically looking for Rusty Blackbirds during your birding expedition.

6. If possible please submit a complete checklist of the birds you identified on your outing, and answer 'yes' to the 'are you reporting all the species you saw/heard' question on the eBird checklist page. This will give us an idea of what other birds were in the area, as well as whether or not Rusty Blackbirds were associating with other blackbirds species during migration.

Identification and Photo Gallery

Overview

Rusty Blackbirds are uncommon blackbirds typically found in wooded swamps and damp forests. Increasingly, however, as this habitat is lost to development, they can be found in flooded agricultural fields and even on suburban lawns--habitats more typically associated with the similarly plumaged Brewer's Blackbird. While habitat should be taken into consideration when making blackbird identifications, care is needed, so please use the field marks below to help confirm your ID.

During spring, male Rusty Blackbirds are mostly blackish with females having more rusty edges to the wings and body. Two other species are more abundant and sometimes mistaken for Rusty Blackbirds. The Common Grackle is larger with a relatively long, keeled tail and larger bill. Males are iridescent, showing complex colors of purple, green and gold. The female Red-winged Blackbird could also be mistaken for a Rusty, but has bold streaking on the underparts, whereas the underparts of both sexes of Rusty Blackbird are plain. Brewer's Blackbirds are much more similar to Rusty Blackbirds overall, but are typically found in open fields and agricultural areas, not in wet woods, and are rare across much of eastern of North America. Rusty Blackbird usually appears thinner-billed and shorter-tailed than Brewer's Blackbird, and they have shorter legs. Female Brewer's Blackbirds usually have dark eyes, while Rusty Blackbirds have "staring" pale eyes.

A couple of the many photos from the eBird article :

Additional info about the Rusty Blackbird :

• Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center : Rusty Blackbird
• Audubon : Rusty Blackbird
  • John James Audubon's 'Birds of America' : Rusty Grackle
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology : Rusty Blackbird
• Wikipedia : Rusty Blackbird
• eNature : Rusty Blackbird

Mar 28, 2008 Ohio birding e-mail listserv posting

Greetings Birders - (No sighting)By now most folks are familiar with eBird. Here is a special project that Cornell is runningto help get a grip on the fragile Rusty Blackbird population. Since many Ohio birders have already seen, recorded and reported a pretty fair number of Rustys this spring (Funk/Killbuck area, Ottawa/Magee especially), we could potentially help bigtime in providing vital information on this species.

Please, if you're interested, the following information was found on a New York rare bird listserv:

Rusty Blackbirds have experienced a dramatic decrease in numbers in the past several decades, with population declines estimated at 88% to 98%since the Breeding Bird Survey began in the 1960s. Scientists are working to understand why this blackbird has plummeted in numbers, but they need your help. Birders are asked to submit their observations of Rusty Blackbirds throughout spring migration to eBird, and are especially urged to participate in a special Rusty Blackbird project from April 1 to 7. During that time period, researchers are asking birders to submit information about habitat use, blackbird behavior, and flock size as part of their eBird reports, so that bird conservationists can gain a better understanding of preferred migratory habitats and how migratory habitat loss might be contributing to population declines.

To learn more about Rusty Blackbirds and this special eBird tracking project, visit the eBird web site:http://ebird.org/content/ebird/index.htmlFor those of you who haven't used eBird in a while, I'd encourage you to try it again during this Rusty Blackbird survey period. The process for entering data is quick and easy, and there are all kinds of great features designed specifically for birders.