BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
Yellow-headed Blackbird
| Scientific Name: | Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus (Bonaparte, 1826) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Yellow-headed Blackbird | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-YHBL | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S4B (Jan 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | |||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Clutch size is 3-5. Incubation lasts 12-13 days, by female. Young leave nest 9-12 days after hatching; unable to fly until about 21 days old (Terres 1980). | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: |
Gregarious, often with much larger flocks of red-winged blackbirds in winter (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Marsh wren may disrupt some nesting attempts (Bump 1986). In Manitoba, predation caused the failure of 51% of nests over two years, and the marsh wren was the most important nest predator (Picman and Isabelle 1995, Auk 112:183-191). Blackbird aggression may exclude marsh wrens from breeding areas (Leonard and Picman 1986). Small breeding territories, but forages up to 1.6 kilometers from nesting area (Willson 1966). |
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| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / Y / Y / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Generally a long-distance migrant; migrations more localized in some areas of California. Males precede females in migration. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Agriculture / Cultivated Field / Facultative - occasional use
Agriculture / Hedgerow / Facultative - occasional use Agriculture / Pasture/Old Field / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Grassland / Facultative - occasional use Lakes / Lake / Facultative - frequent use Lakes / Pond/Open Water / Facultative - frequent use Wetland / Marsh / Facultative - frequent use |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | BREEDING: Fresh-water marshes of cattail, tule or bulrushes (AOU 1983). The nest is a basketlike structure of wet grasses, reeds, cattails woven around stems. NON-BREEDING: In migration and winter also in open cultivated lands, pastures and fields (AOU 1983). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Granivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Feeds on insects, seeds, and grain. Searches for food while walking along the ground or perched on seed-bearing plant; forages in fields and on muddy ground near water. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | Y | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 24/ / 80 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | BREEDS: central-interior British Columbia east to extreme western Ontario and northwestern Ohio, south to southern California, northeastern Baja California, New Mexico, northern Texas, northern Missouri, and northwestern Ohio. WINTERS: central California, central Arizona, southern New Mexico, and Texas south to southern Baja California, Oaxaca and Veracruz (AOU 1983), casually to Costa Rica, accidental in Panama. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Apr 05, 1996 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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Bump, S. R. 1986. Yellow-headed blackbird nest defense: aggressive responses to marsh wrens. Condor 88:328-335. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I.McT.-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G. Kaiser, A.C. Stewart, and M.C.E. McNall. 2001. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 4, Passerines: Wood-Warblers through Old World Sparrows. UBC Press, in cooperation with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv., and B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch and Resour. Inventory Branch, and Royal B.C. Mus. 744pp. |
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Carter, M., G. Fenwick, C. Hunter, D. Pashley, D. Petit, J. Price, and J. Trapp. 1996. Watchlist 1996: For the future. Field Notes 50(3):238-240. |
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Cummings, J. L., J. L. Guarino, and C. E. Knittle. 1989. Chronology of blackbird damage to sunflowers. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 17:50-52. |
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Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Herkert, J. R., editor. 1992. Endangered and threatened species of Illinois: status and distribution. Vol. 2: Animals. Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board. iv + 142 pp. |
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Leonard, M. L., and J. Picman. 1986. Why are nesting wrensand yellow-headed blackbirds spatially segregated? Auk 103:135-140. |
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National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC. |
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Nelms, C. O., et al. 1994. Population estimates of breeding blackbirds in North Dakota, 1967, 1981-1982, and 1990. Am. Midl. Nat. 132:256-263. |
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Oberholser, H.C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. 2 vols. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. |
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Orians, G. H. 1980. Some adaptations of marsh-nesting blackbirds. Princeton Univ. Press. 295 pp. |
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Orians, G. H. 1985. Blackbirds of the Americas. Univ. Washington Press, Seattle. |
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Orians, G.H., Christman. 1968. Behavior of redwinged, tri-colored, and yellow headed blackbirds. Berkeley. 301 pp. |
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Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Twedt, D.J., W.J. Bleier, and G.M. Linz. 1992. Genetic variation in male Yellow-headed Blackbirds from the northern Great Plains. Canadian Journal of Zoology 70:2280-2282. |
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Twedt, D.J., W.J. Bleier, and G.M. Linz. 1994. Geographic variation in Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Condor 96:1030-1036. |
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Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1996. Species Summary: Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).