Yard Bird: The "Vulnerable" Rusty Blackbird

We awakened to more ice and downed trees in our yard and throughout the Ozarks. Another day off of work and an excellent day to watch the feeders. After Marvin e-mailed me three great photos of a Rusty Blackbird yesterday, I must confess that I started taking a second look at the unwelcomed European Starlings in my backyard. Most people may not be aware that Rusty Blackbirds are facing a dramatic decline in numbers due to a number of issues. More about that later in the post.
This morning Marvin's e-mail stated "I have 3 Rusty Blackbirds slipping and sliding on the ice this morning". High number is 6 today.

Yesterday, Lisa commented on my Harris's Sparrow post, "Hey, why are we consuming all these fossil fuels heading out to the prairie, when our target birds end up in our back yards?"
"Good point, Lisa. I think I'll invite another uncommon bird to my icy retreat!" I said to myself.

Well, it happened again. Today, a lone Rusty Blackbird, a new life yard bird, arrived with a Brown-headed Cowbird! Marvin said that he "asked them to fly over to Ozark to show up at my feeder. No charge for that service."
Speaking of the increasingly vulnerable Rusty Blackbirds, this is the fifth time this winter that I've seen them in a 15 mile radius of here. Ten years ago there were few, if any, reports of Rusties in the Springfield area, with most winter sightings coming from the Duck Creek and Mingo areas in SE Missouri. This is good news, considering the dramatic decline in the numbers of this species elsewhere.

I'm hopeful that perhaps this "apparent", albeit modest, range expansion in its wintering grounds will help Rusty Blackbirds. Range expansion will not solve the species' image problem, however. It will have to be accompanied by the busting of "the only good blackbird is a dead blackbird" myth. Whenever possible, educate yourself and increase others' awareness of the plight of this threatened species. Be sure to report your sightings to the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend!

Good Ol' Palmetto........, Again

Ever since the Short-eared Owls arrived at Nixon Farm, 5 miles NW of the Palmetto region of Greene County, I have been convinced that I can pull something rare out of the short winter grasses and agricultural fields of Palmetto. Before I head out, I dream of Prairie Falcons, Lapland Longspurs, Smith's Longspurs, or perhaps another Northern Shrike.

And so, the last two days I have spent part of my weekend searching for that rare bird, whatever it is. Even though I have not uncovered that super special casual or accidental species, I have managed to spot a couple of bird species that I would consider rare for our immediate Springfield area. Here are my favorite finds of the weekend.

Yesterday the normally dry fields of Farm Road 166 were flooded and 500 Canada Geese settled in the inundated corn field. Among the geese I spotted around 30 Mallards, 6 Gadwall, 3 Northern Shovelors and 5-7 Cackling Geese. I tried to take some photos of a single Cackling right next to a Mallard for the size comparison, but the image came out very blurry, so I settled for what I think are three Cackling Geese in the foreground among the big geese behind. One's profile is apparent.

Today, I spotted 6 Rusty Blackbirds in a flooded woodland in the same area. This head of the bird in this photo looks odd, but I think it was snapped just before he took off. Seconds later I saw the Wild Turkeys in a distant field.

Other birds of note for the weekend included two Short-eared Owls, three Northern Harriers, one Loggerhead Shrike, and one Harlan's Hawk.