Red-winged Blackbird Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: One of the most common birds in the state, and as such they're easy to overlook. If you can capture the detail in the blacks and show that shoulder though, the males are quite pretty. They also add a heck of a lot of character during the summer months, as it's hard to miss their loud, raucous calls. My favorite photo of the species is probably the one below, a male in mid-song, from April 2019 in Lincoln County, South Dakota.

Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus


Red-winged Blackbird 1 (Male) March 23rd, 2003 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 2 (Male) April 12th, 2003 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 3 (Female) July 4th, 2004 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 4 (Male) May 2nd, 2006 Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Red-winged Blackbird 5 (Male) May 2nd, 2006 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 6 (Female) May 5th, 2006 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 7 (1st winter) February 16th, 2007 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 8 (Male) May 13th, 2007 Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Red-winged Blackbird 9 (First winter) November 2nd, 2008 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 10 (male) April 11th, 2010 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 11 (female) April 11th, 2010 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 12 (female) April 11th, 2010 Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Red-winged Blackbird 13 (female) July 5th, 2009 Lake County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 14 (male) July 5th, 2009 Lake County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 15 (male) April 18th, 2010 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 16 (male) April 18th, 2010 Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Red-winged Blackbird 17 (male) May 14th, 2010 Kingsbury County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 18 (Male) May 2nd, 2014 Kingsbury County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 19 (Male) April 19th, 2019 Lincoln County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 20 (Male) April 19th, 2019 Lincoln County, South Dakota

Red-winged Blackbird 21 (female) April 19th, 2020 Lake County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 22 (male) April 19th, 2020 Lake County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 23 (male) April 18th, 2020 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 24 (male) April 19th, 2020 Lake County, South Dakota

Red-winged Blackbird 25 (male) April 19th, 2020 Lake County, South Dakota	Red-winged Blackbird 26 (male) May 8th, 2016 Near Brandon, South Dakota