Distinguishing Individuals

Meet William, the Red-winged Blackbird.

It is not very often that I give individual wild creatures a name.  One reason for this is because I can't usually tell them apart.   All Chickadees look alike to me, try though I might to recognize feather patterns or other characteristics that would help me know them as individuals.  

Same way with most birds.  When they are nesting, I know that the male and female Bluebirds using a particular box are those particular individuals, but for the most part my brain doesn't seem up to the challenge of recognizing tiny differences that would help me tell birds of the same species apart.   (There's an interesting article here about that subject).

But, this January, I had the privilege to have one Red-winged Blackbird as a distinguished individual at my feeders.  I held off naming him for quite awhile, but then one day it just seemed to me that he needed a name and the name "William" came to me.  I liked that name because at times he looked rather dignified, so he could be called by his full name-- and at other times he acted more like a "Willie" and I could call him that.

Rather interestingly, the book I was reading during the same time that William was hanging out at our feeders was this:

Published in 2006, it's a story by Bob Levy of his birding experiences in Central Park, featuring George, a Red-winged Blackbird that came to his hand for peanuts.  It's a good, light read if you are interested in birding.  Obviously, I'm not the only one who names their wild bird friends. 

At first, William was a little skittish.  When I pointed my camera out the window, he usually took off immediately.  But he eventually got used to it.

Isn't he a handsome bird?

I'm guessing he's a youngish bird because of the brown on the edges of his feathers.

He was not picky about where he would eat.  The sunflowers in the feeders were his first choice, but corn on the ground was okay, too.

Or eating on the bird table on a very cold day when it was necessary to fluff out those feathers to keep warm.

Sometimes he would just sit in the sunshine-- maybe he enjoyed the thermal effect of sun on black feathers?

You can't see much of his red epaulets in any of these photos.  William didn't need to show them to defend his territory since he was the only one of his kind around.

Above is a photo of one of the many Red-winged Blackbirds in our swamp last summer.  Looks like he was defending a nest territory.

In the next photo you can see another bird in the spring time showing the difference between its all black feathers and William's more mottled look.

Male Red-wings are an easy bird for most people to recognize, but the females are a little trickier.  In fact, I'd say they are one of the more confusing birds for beginning birders.  They don't look at all like the males (except for size and bill-shape) and they look more like sparrows.  Here's a female that was recovering from being stunned from a window strike, in my daughter's hands.

Females arrive here a week or so after the males in the spring and they tend to be more secretive, especially during nesting season, and I don't have any other photos of them.  

Meanwhile, in the spring the males are singing their hearts out on prominent perches trying to persuade a female to be their mate.  If you would like to read more about blackbird behavior, I recommend this article called 'Interpreting Red-winged Blackbird Behavior'.

Back to the present... at least back to January 17th.  It was a rather nasty day, with sleet and snow coming down.  William didn't look too happy.

He still was eating at the feeder though.

But that turned out to be the last day I saw him.  I'm hopeful that he decided to follow the rest of the flock to a more southern location.  I hope that if he did, he enjoyed the blizzard they had!  We didn't get any snow from the huge storm... maybe he should have stayed here.

I thought a day or two later I had another individual I could recognize because it was the only one at the feeders.

But then two more Starlings showed up and all three looked identical to me!  I wonder if I will 'know' William if he returns in the spring with dozens of his kind?  I'm guessing not!