I live at the top of a small hill in a residential neighborhood in Moscow, =
Idaho (North Central Idaho). I live about 1/4 mile from a stream and abou=
t 1/2 mile from a wetland. We have been having record setting low tempera=
tures the last couple of weeks. We have also been having a flock of red wi=
ng black birds show up every evening about 30 min before sunset. They sta=
rt with a single bird and slowly the trees fill and they start singing intr=
icate songs. It is like a hundred conversations at a loud party. In my nei=
ghbor's tree I counted 120 birds at the very top singing away. This hasn't=
happened in my 10 years here that I recall. Is this normal? Maybe our re=
d wing blackbird population has increased over the years. Maybe the cold i=
s increasing the pressure to flock. Any thoughts or comments?
I have a couple of bad recordings of their vocalizations but it is a neighb=
orhood in town so their is *lots* of man-made noise. Their songs sound lik=
e the sounds they make in the wetlands but amplified by being so close toge=
ther and in such numbers (probably around 200 birds).
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