 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
|
1.31 (0.207 - 2.4)|
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
Yellow-headed Blackbirds were observed in 1,435 squares across southern Saskatchewan. Nearly absent from the boreal forest, they were common in the deep wetlands that dot the open prairie landscapes south of the forest fringe. Their loud and raucous personality make them readily detected in areas with suitable habitat, with only a few zones of low probability of observation, the largest of which is the relatively dry Grasslands National Park. Breeding was confirmed in 216 squares, beginning as early as 9 May for nest building, with the first fledged young seen as early as 3 June.
Note: During all years of the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas drought conditions persisted and the Atlas range maps for all waterfowl, waterbirds, and wetland-associated species should be viewed as characteristic of distribution and abundance during dry conditions. Read the full drought statement here.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
The Yellow-headed Blackbird is a beauty to behold. "The striking plumage of the male ... certainly marks it as ?king of the prairie marsh'? (Wapple and Renaud 2008). Yellow-headed Blackbirds nest from the northern interior of British Columbia and the Prairie Provinces (south of the Precambrian Shield) through the western and north-central US to northern Baja California. They winter in the US southwest to southern Mexico.
Yellow-headed Blackbirds are colonial breeders found in extensive tracts of cattail and bulrush. Rarely found in smaller wetlands, they "prefer to build their nests over water at least 60 cm deep and concentrate more toward the center of a slough, with Red-winged Blackbirds occupying the periphery? (Roy 1996). In migration they also occur in fields and around farmyards, often in the company of other blackbirds.
The Yellow-headed Blackbird is a locally common summer resident in large deepwater marshes and sloughs throughout the southern part of the province from the grasslands to the southern boreal forest north to Kazan Lake and Cumberland House. Farther north it is considered a very rare summer visitant (Smith 1996).
Original text by Christopher J. Escott. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Yellow-headed Blackbird in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Yellow-headed 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=YHBL&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]
| Previous species: Yellow-breasted Chat | Table of Contents | Next species: Bobolink |