 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
Click for a larger version or to add map overlays |
||
Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
|
Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
|
-3.58 (-5.01 - -1.86)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Atlas Results
Atlas results coming soon
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
The Rusty Blackbird is a species in trouble, as a result COSEWIC designated the species as one of Special Concern in 2006. Breeds across the Boreal from Alaska to Newfoundland south into the US in Maine, New Hampshire and New York. Although a few winter across southern Canada, most Rusty Blackbirds winter in the eastern US.
Rusty Blackbirds breed in northern bogs and swampy areas, where they feed mainly on crustaceans, aquatic insect larvae, and seeds. They are often seen in overgrown swampy habitat turning over wet leaves in search of food. In migration they still prefer wetland habitats, but they can occur more widely, often in the mixed blackbird flocks that invade grain fields; in fall they occasionally frequent feeders.
The Rusty Blackbird is a fairly common but diminishing summer resident south to the Turtle Lake, Montreal Lake, and Hudson Bay areas, and formerly to Somme (Smith 1996). Elsewhere it occurs only as an uncommon transient. A 90% decline in numbers across the continent has been noted since about 1970 and may be the result of loss of wintering habitat, especially wooded wetlands, in the Mississippi River watershed.
Original text by Christopher J. Escott. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Rusty Blackbird in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Rusty Blackbird in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=RUBL&lang=en [09 Nov 2025]
| Previous species: Brown-headed Cowbird | Table of Contents | Next species: Brewer's Blackbird |