The marshes and field edges will soon be bustling with red-winged blackbird activity. In fact, on a March 1 birding road trip around the Beltzville Park area I saw many males already setting up their territories. A utility line paralleling an overgrown field held six males all spaced about 50 yards apart. Their bright red shoulder patches were really evident as they were blurting out their ringing songs.

Red-winged blackbirds are one of the eight or more members of the blackbird family that we can find here in the Times News coverage area. The other spring arrivals include the largest blackbird, the purple grackle. They aren’t as evident because their “singing” sites are often atop a large spruce or other evergreen. They usually nest in these types of trees while its cousins, the “red wings,” nest in marshy areas or in fallow fields.

I chose this time to present blackbird information because many are either just returning to this area or will arrive shortly. Joining the “red wings” and grackles are the cowbirds. If you are still feeding your local birds, all three of these blackbirds may visit your feeders. Especially look for them after a late snow shower briefly coats the habitats where they are setting up territories.

Grackles have a grating call and have an iridescent sheen to their black plumage. Their tail almost looks too long for the size of the bird. They nest rather early, and within weeks of the young fledging, they leave our area. In the southern states, very large mixed flocks of blackbirds often feed and then roost together. I seldom ever see any one of these three species from October through late February.

Cowbirds, if you remember, do not make their own nests. In the next 6 or 8 weeks, two or three males will circle around and do their best to impress a female. After mating, the female will follow a vireo, thrush or sparrow female to the nest, and when she leaves, will deposit her egg in the clutch.

Don’t forget that one of our favorite backyard spring arrivals is the Baltimore oriole. It and its cousin, the orchard oriole, are also members of the blackbird family. The brightly colored eastern meadowlark is another blackbird family member.

One of my favorite birds, but seriously declining in numbers, is the bobolink. They migrate back here after their long trip from Argentina. Unfortunately, bobolinks and meadowlarks are finding less and less good hayfields to put their nests. I hope we find a way for both of these colorful blackbirds to survive.

Only the experienced birder can locate the rusty blackbirds that occasionally make it to our region. I’ve only seen a few in my many birding years. Don’t forget that the “black bird” that isn’t a blackbird at all, the starling, is almost everywhere. They are introductions from Europe and are not true blackbirds.

If you vacation at the Delaware or Maryland beach areas, look for boat-tailed grackles in many of the marshy areas or on the sparsely used beaches in early morning. They are larger than our purple grackles with oversized tails.

Birding is getting interesting now as more and more migrants arrive, so find a way to get out there.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: Which can be found in the Times News region? A. mink, B. river otter, C. fisher, D. all of these, E. none of these.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: When a huge flock of starlings move like a wave in unison, this is called murmurations.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.