The song of the Yellow-headed blackbird, if it can be called a song as it lacks any musical quality, is a familiar sound in the marshes particularly of central and southeastern Oregon. The male, with its yellow head, neck, and breast, black body and wings, and white wig patches, is unmistakable. The female is more subtle with its dusky or sooty brown body plumage and yellow cheeks, chin, throat and chest, but is also distinctive.

It is an abundant spring and summer resident in marshes of large alkaline lakes and wetlands in southeast Oregon, most notably the Klamath, Summer, Malheur, and Harney Lake basins. It is local and uncommon on smaller bodies of water, marshes, and flooded areas east of the Cascade crest. It is increasingly rare north to the Columbia River except in Morrow and Umatilla counties where it is locally common. It nests in common (broadleaf) cattail and hardstem bulrush standing in deeper water along pond, lake, or marsh edges.

Hear the song of the Yellow-headed blackbird

Photo by Nick Myatt, ODFW