Scarlet Headed Blackbird

 

                          

This is an adult male scarlet-headed blackbird, Amblyramphus holosericeus. This is a South American songbird that is placed into the family, Icteridae. The icterids, whose family name comes from Ancient Greek ikteros ("jaundiced" -- in honour of their yellow plumage), often feature brightly-coloured patches of yellow, orange or red that contrasts against coal-black plumage.

                                         

yellow-headed blackbirds

The scarlet-headed blackbird is similar to the yellow-headed blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, a neotropical migrant that breeds throughout the western and central regions of the United States and Canada. Interestingly, another resident South American icterid also shows a colour reversal from its neotropical cousin; the yellow-shouldered blackbird, Agelaius xanthomus (South America) and the red-winged blackbird, A. phoeniceus (neotropical migrant) are colour-reversed "twins". Except in this case, these are actually sister species -- each other's closest relatives -- whilst the scarlet-headed and yellow-headed blackbirds are merely distant cousins whose colour patterns are the result of convergent evolution.

Like its neotropical colour-reversed "twin", the scarlet-headed blackbird is a wetland species that inhabits reed beds in marshes. Males sing to attract females, although their song is not very musical in quality, typical for icterids.

This species has a remarkably long and slender bill -- even for icterids. This long slender bill is especially useful for scarlet-headed blackbirds' special feeding technique. They poke their bill into the earth then open it whilst it's still inside the earth to extract insects or their larvae that might be lurking there. This feeding behaviour is known as "gaping". European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, also feed in this way.