Larch Creek Birds

What the birds (and frogs) are saying at a creek in western Washington
Plate 14
Rusty Blackbird
John James Audubon, betw
Bird

Rusty Blackbird

Euphagus carolinus
Troupials and Allies (Icteridae)
Occasional. Never better than a coin toss here in any week of the year.
Field marks
A slim blackbird with pale yellow eyes. In autumn both sexes are edged with rusty brown, which wears off by spring like a cheap dye job.
Male & female
Breeding males are glossy black; females are slate-grey.
Voice
A squeaky, creaking song like a rusty gate, which is where the name comes from, and a sharp 'chuck'.
Diet
Insects, snails and seeds, found by wading in shallow water and flipping wet leaves.
Habitat
Wooded swamps and flooded forest; in Washington a scarce migrant and winter visitor.
Nesting
In boreal bogs far to the north.
Size
8½–10 in long, about 2 oz: two slices of bread, in a damp forest, flipping leaves.

One of North America's fastest-declining songbirds, down by around 85% since the 1960s, and nobody is entirely sure why. A detection here is worth checking carefully; Brewer's Blackbird is the common look-alike.

Season how expected it is here, week by week

50%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecheard at the creektoday
Fig. 1. BirdNET's range model for this location: the chance this species is present in each week of the year. Orange ticks mark weeks it has actually been heard at the creek; the dashed line is today.

At the creek 3 calls on 3 days, first Oct 28, last Oct 31

0100:00 — 0 calls001:00 — 0 calls02:00 — 0 calls03:00 — 0 calls304:00 — 0 calls05:00 — 0 calls06:00 — 1 calls607:00 — 0 calls08:00 — 0 calls09:00 — 1 calls910:00 — 0 calls11:00 — 0 calls12:00 — 0 calls1213:00 — 0 calls14:00 — 0 calls15:00 — 0 calls1516:00 — 0 calls17:00 — 0 calls18:00 — 0 calls1819:00 — 0 calls20:00 — 0 calls21:00 — 1 calls2122:00 — 0 calls23:00 — 0 callssunrisesunset
Fig. 2. When it calls: all detections by hour of day (today's sunrise and sunset shown).
01Oct 2 — 0 callsOct 3 — 0 callsOct 3Oct 4 — 0 callsOct 5 — 0 callsOct 6 — 0 callsOct 7 — 0 callsOct 8 — 0 callsOct 9 — 0 callsOct 10 — 0 callsOct 10Oct 11 — 0 callsOct 12 — 0 callsOct 13 — 0 callsOct 14 — 0 callsOct 15 — 0 callsOct 16 — 0 callsOct 17 — 0 callsOct 17Oct 18 — 0 callsOct 19 — 0 callsOct 20 — 0 callsOct 21 — 0 callsOct 22 — 0 callsOct 23 — 0 callsOct 24 — 0 callsOct 24Oct 25 — 0 callsOct 26 — 0 callsOct 27 — 0 callsOct 28 — 1 callsOct 29 — 1 callsOct 30 — 0 callsOct 31 — 1 callsOct 31
Fig. 3. Calls per day over the last 30 days.

From the encyclopedia

The rusty blackbird is a medium-sized New World blackbird, closely related to grackles. It is a bird that prefers wet forested areas, breeding in the boreal forest and muskeg across northern Canada, and migrating southeast to the United States during winter.
From Wikipedia, "Rusty blackbird", CC BY-SA 4.0.