General Description: Tricolored Blackbirds (Agelaius tricolor) are medium-sized blackbirds that look exactly like Red-winged Blackbirds except for the shoulder patch colors. Male Tricolors have a red and white shoulder patch, while male Redwings have red and yellow. Female Tricolors look like female Redwings.

Taxonomy: Passeriformes, Icteridae.

Favored Habitat: Marshes with cattails and bulrushes, farm fields, and orchards in the central valley of California.

Where to Find: Don't look for Tricolored Blackbirds around Las Vegas. Rather, look for them on trips to the central valley of California, and look for breeding birds during summer in Oregon.

Comments: I've only seen these birds in mixed flocks, as is the case in these photos, where they are associating with Brown-headed Cowbirds, Brewers Blackbirds, and Starlings.