Migration

The fall migration for Rusty Blackbirds starts right before the actual fall season begins. Sometime in early September the birds start coming into the northern states. There are often immense flocks of the birds. The migration continues until almost winter when the last few Rusty Blackbirds are migrating south. Sometimes the migration flight is a sight to behold. Wendell Taber said he saw” a migrating flock that extended for at least a mile, or as far as he could see; the birds were flying southward on a broad front extending from east to west; the wave was from 20 to 40 birds deep from vanguard to rearguard, and only one bird deep vertically.”

During migration the Rusty Blackbirds often mingle with other blackbirds in large flocks. They will also mingle with other species that are not blackbirds, but that’s more individually and not in large flocks. Most of the birds winter in the Lower Mississippi Valley and southeastern Coastal Plain. Many end up at the Gulf Coast of Texas and Florida and along Atlantic coast. Sometimes they stray into Mexico.

Spring migration occurs mainly from March to April of the following year.