Except for the European starling, the birds described in this Wildlife Note belong to Subfamily Icterinae, the blackbirds, a group found only in the Americas. In the Northeast, blackbirds live mainly in open areas such as marshes, fields and woods edges. Some blackbirds are drab, while others are brightly colored.
Most species are social, living in flocks outside of the nesting season.
Blackbirds eat mainly insects in summer and seeds in winter. This is when an individual sticks its bill into a crevice or vegetation or beneath a rock or a stick, then suddenly opens its mandibles to push aside or pry away a screening object to expose an insect, spider, seed or some other edible item. Bobolinks feed on beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants and other insects, millipedes, spiders, seeds of weeds and grasses, and grain. They nest on the ground in moist meadows and fields of hay, clover, alfalfa or weeds. The adults land away from the hidden nest and walk to it.