Talk:Red-winged blackbird

message: The RWB does attack for no reason.  There was one out where I walk and every time you come within his section he swoops at you and constantly squaks above your head.  This past week I noticed there are two additional ones.... offsprings I'm assuming who he's taught well how to swoop and squak.  Now they not only swoop at you in their section, the come across the road at you also. How does a person know they aren't going to actually attack??  Is there anyway to kill these birds or chase them away from the walking trail.  I'm afraid someone, or myself, may get hurt by them. What if they attack a child sometime?  --66.43.199.41 19:06, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: this walking path is probably coming to close to it's nest, or something.  If all it does is "swoops at you constantly squaks above your head" then I don't see how they're going to hurt anybody, child or otherwise.  if the birds are actually physically attacking you, which seems considerably less likely, you might want to consider taking an alternate path for a week or two.  Michael1115 (talk) 14:26, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Attacks

message: I put on that they have been known to attack humans but someone took it off. I know this because one attacked me or chased me away from it's nest twice went i went near the same place walking home from school i haven't gone near the nest since. If someone disputes this fact i will not try to put it back on. tell me what you think --Gilimonster 12:30, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: see reply on --User talk:Gilimonster jimfbleak 16:01, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: "Mobbing", when I've observed it, is a bunch of outraged birds screaming furiously at a predator.  This usually leads to physical contact of some kind;  like Gilimonster, I've observed RWB's landing hits against Crow's, Raven's, Red Tailed Hawk's (all of this both while perched and in flight), and, occasionally, human picnicers.  I suspect that if we asked those who have had their scalps 'raked' by an RWB, they would characterize the event as an "attack".  Are there any observations of RWB's hassling dogs or other non-avian predators in this manner?  mdf 19:55, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: When discussing animal behavior we cannot be anthropocentric. The red-wings are not "attacking" and are not "outraged." They are simply defending their territory and by that they are increasing their fitness (reproductive success). If something is a potential threat to their fitness they are going to defend their territory and offspring.  01:17, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

text: Attack doesn't seem anthropomorphic, but if it's an issue, they swoop would be threats to their territory. I see that this article now states, "only on very few documented occasions...". As other visitors to this page who have been swooped, it seems rather inaccurate. Red winged blackbirds become very territorial during breeding season (may-june). They are especially aggressive with bicyclists, possibly because they are a high speed approaching threat, which may appear more predatory. My many unnerving experiences were on Assateague Island. There's a Naturalist society website that references this. I would propose the behavior section instead read "During breeding season they can be quite territorial and males are known to swoop invaders of their territory." --Ekmsid (talk) 15:24, 24 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Human Attack 

message: I can't help but notice that the Further Reading section is longer than the article itself. This is completely absurd. Someone needs to go through and cut 95% of it out. If it's important information, move it to a reference and cite it in the article. Keep Further Reading down to pertinent general information on red-wing blackbirds.
144.92.39.93 19:35, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Further Reading 

message: The following was added by an anonymous IP today, and may be creative vandalism.  It needs to be sourced.
:In one dialect of the Anishinaabe language, an Indigenous language spoken throughout much of the bird's Northeastern range, the name for the Red-winged Blackbird is Memiskoniinisi (containing the word 'red'), which does not refer to its blackness however.  In another dialect it is referred to as Memiskonigwiigaans (containing the words 'red' and 'wing') Other dialects refer to its blackness, calling it Memiskondinimaanganeshiinh (which includes 'red' and 'bird').
MeegsC | Talk 08:31, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: has helped improve the section. MeegsC | Talk 14:27, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: It appears the anonymous IP user from the Toronto area with a limited understanding of the Anishinaabe languages added the information using the Weshki's, Guy's and my Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary, without understanding the imbedded dialect codes there, or the bird's names' literal meanings, and without any citation. Glad to help. CJLippert (talk) 14:43, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Anishinaabe language 

message: Taxonomy:
There are a number of subspecies, some of doubtful status, which are mostly quite similar in appearance, but the 'Bicolored Blackbird' A. p. gubernator of California and central Mexico is distinctive. 
Description:
Females of Tricolored, Bicolored, Red-shouldered and Red-winged Blackbirds can be difficult to identify in areas where more than one form occurs.
When talking the Bicoloured blackbird in the section "Description", is the article talking about the subspecies previously mentioned? The way the secend sentence is written may lead readers to think that Bicoloured and Red-winged Blackbirds are different species.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 186.124.174.205 (talk) 18:54, 22 December 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Bicoloured Blackbird

message: Description: The female is considerably smaller than the male, at 17–18 cm (7 in) length and 36 g (1.2 oz) weight, against his 22–24 cm (9.5 in) and 64 g (2.2 oz).
 
The reference in the text doesn't provide the information expressed in that sentence. Could anyone provide any other reference?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 186.124.174.205 (talk) 00:21, 24 December 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: References

message: It is an important issue related to this species.  Why shouldn't it be included in this article? --Jehan60188 (talk)  —Preceding undated comment added 23:03, 5 January 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: It certainly should be included but will have to wait for reliable sources analysing the issue. The section was a bit news like. I understand that the section was removed as being not relevant to this species. That may be incorrect, as far as I could see in news media images, it did mainly involve this species. Shyamal (talk) 05:29, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: It was a mix of red-winged blackbirds and starlings, it wasn't at all mysterious, and it's not relevant to either species article because it has nothing to do with the purpose of such articles, which is to describe the species. — Gavia immer (talk) 22:49, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  mass deaths 

message: Is it possible that a male's mates are aggressive among them? I'm not sure, but I think I've read something about it, and it may be an important behavioural characteristic.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.5.120.26 (talk) 03:42, 31 January 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Aggressivity among females 

message: I'm not sure why you'd want to include a pesticide use reference, particularly because it suggests an illegal use of a pesticide.  While parathion is only available in China, someone could be encouraged to solve a bird problem by poisoning food with some other toxin.  There may be registered avicides in the U.S., but they are for extraordinary situations where public health is a concern.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jegenrieder (talk • contribs) 01:11, 28 May 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Relationship with Humans 

message: I saw this bird outside, didn't know what it was at the time but thought it was cool so I snapped some pics. If you want to use them in the article feel free (by-nc-sa).
http://ancyker.net/images/photos/IMG_0510.JPG
http://ancyker.net/images/photos/IMG_0514.JPG
http://ancyker.net/images/photos/IMG_0515.JPG
Ancyker (talk) 17:25, 16 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Flying Photos 

message: I’ve read in this article that nest predators include the marsh wren. Although I’ve seen in several papers that the marsh wren is listed as a common nest predator in red-winged blackbirds’ nests, that probably doesn’t mean that they feed on their eggs and/or chicks. In fact, marsh wrens eat mainly insects, spiders and snails. Couldn’t it be that the wrens simply steal nesting materials from red-winged blackbirds’ nests to build theirs? --Pablo.ea.92 (talk) 16:51, 24 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Nest predation 

message: The picture in the section about the bird's taxonomy can't be of a A. p. gubernator if it was taken in California. According to the Clements checklist, gubernator lives at the Mexican Plateau. However, mailliardorum, californicus, aciculatus and neutralis, all of which lack the yellow strip on the wing as in gubernator, do live in California. The picture must be of an individual belonging to one of those four subspecies. --Pablo.ea.92 (talk) 17:47, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  ''A. p. gubernator''? 

message: a few mentions of "breeding season" but no specific discussion on when that is. when is it?104.129.196.195 (talk) 18:08, 12 June 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Breeding season 

message: This article says that the genus has 11 species, but the genus article says 5. (Is this because the South American species have recently been removed from the genus - I've found statements that the genus is/was polyphyletic?)
 Lavateraguy (talk) 10:50, 25 January 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Taxonomic inconsistency 

message: Many (most?) places in this article this bird is referred to as a "sergeant thrush". Is this a common name for the bird? If so why isn't there text at the beginning of the article stating this? The strange thing, to me at least, is that an Internet search doesn't find this name anywhere except in this article -- why is that? -- Dough34 (talk) 02:48, 14 October 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  What's a sergeant thrush? 

message: This article is a hot mess. Some bits of natural history mixed in with tons of arcane anecdotes of interest only to academic ornithologists; a bunch of old reports about the "damage" they do to crops; and a very long, disturbing section focused on the most efficacious means to kill them. Please start this article again from scratch. It's terrible and not useful to most people at this point. 2600:6C67:917F:FD9C:B9AD:5693:1167:BE53 (talk) 18:08, 1 November 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Very complicated and confusing article