This red-winged blackbird was spotted in the Kamloops area in spring.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Lyn MacDonald
April 17, 2025 - 4:00 AM
The male red-winged blackbird’s trill is a classic sound of the wetlands in Kamloops and the Okanagan every spring, and is part of an attempt to attract a female.
The song takes one second and starts with an abrupt note followed by a musical trill like conk-la-ree.
In late March, wildlife photographer Lyn MacDonald captured a blackbird on video, shown up close leaning out from its perch on a cattail with its bright shoulder patches puffed up.
The bird’s distinctive call is heard clear and crisp above a background of other bird calls.
Females give a very different song in response to a singing male, a series of three to five short chit or check notes, according to All About Birds.
The red-winged blackbird is a polygynous species where males may have up to 15 mates during breeding season when they spend more than a quarter of daylight hours protecting territory.
Both sexes call out all year round when confronting rivals or sounding an alarm with a fast chak chak chak.
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