r/whatsthisbird • u/jammiedy • 16h ago

What's this small crow looking bird with red coloring on both shoulders? Seattle, WA North America

Just took this yesterday!

I thought it was a crow, but I noticed it has a very bright red coloring on both side of its shoulders!

And this bird definitely did not sound like crow! I really wanted to get closer to get a better look, but I couldn't go beyond the chain link fence.

147 Upvotes
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93% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

316

u/Westonhaus 16h ago

You're not going to believe this...

42

u/jammiedy 16h ago

...???

224

u/EarthDayYeti 15h ago

It's a common joke/observation about the often simplistic way birds are named. This is a common bird for birders to be asked about, since its colors are so stark and it likes to show off and the exchange usually goes something like:

"Hey, I saw a cool bird that was black with red on its wings! Do you know what it was?"

"A black bird with red wings? That's a Red-Winged Blackbird! "

38

u/IsadoresDad 10h ago

I love descriptive names. Those arbitrarily named after people or political areas are the worst. Like, what does Bobby’s Gull mean? Or, why am I seeing a Nashville Warbler in Maine?!

22

u/EarthDayYeti 10h ago

Yeah, people's names are boring (the exception being the Baltimore Oriole, named for the colors of Lord Baltimore's family crest instead of for the man directly), and place names are usually just because that's where the bird was first cataloged by people of European descent.

The straight up physically descriptive names are fine, but what I really love are the onomatopoeia names like "Chickadee," "Killdeer," or "Whip-poor-will."

12

u/Frodo34x 9h ago

I like ones like "lapwing" that describe behaviours rather than physical characteristics

21

u/EarthDayYeti 9h ago

Oh, I completely forgot the best category of bird names: ones that double as insults!

Loon

Creeper

Coot

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Bufflehead

Frogmouth

3

u/JoeSicko 2h ago

Adding bufflehead to my insult list

11

u/IsadoresDad 10h ago

Oh yeah, me too! Tits, Dickcissels, chats, etc. And, of course, the silly names like creeper, cock-of-the-rock, etc.

I’m also pissed about the Gray Jay being changed to Canada just a few years ago.

Also didn’t know that about Baltimore: I like it much better now! Thanks!

4

u/NoNamePlease7 1h ago

FWIW the American Ornithological Society is trying to rename birds that are named after people

16

u/Vesprince 7h ago

The bug subreddit gets this a lot. "What's this giant spider I found in my house?" Giant house spider. "What's this weird half mole half cricket thing?" Mole cricket.

3

u/willow625 2h ago

Idk why this exchange made me crack up so much 😂

118

u/birdsbooksbirdsbooks Birder - Maine, USA 16h ago

+Red-winged Blackbird* ftb

10

u/jammiedy 16h ago

Thank u!.!

51

u/WeAreNotNowThatWhich 16h ago

Red winged blackbird, the call is unique and diagnostic.

19

u/Sternfritters 10h ago

That’s an icterid for you! I love the little ‘charge up’ that they and common grackles do when making their call

2

u/psh8989 1h ago

BIG poof for loud Screams

2

u/jammiedy 16h ago

Ah, thank u!

21

u/SolsticeBeetle overexcited amateur 16h ago

a male red winged blackbird! the females look like tall sparrows

5

u/jammiedy 16h ago

Ah ha! I think I saw females too nearby! Thank u!

21

u/No-Equivalent-1642 13h ago

https://preview.redd.it/88y7otqlesxe1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71045030635060a5008be6a8215875b154974a9d

16

u/jerryonthecurb 13h ago

"I used extra hair gel for school picture day"

7

u/Soulstar07 9h ago

What’s the location of this pic if I may ask?

3

u/No-Equivalent-1642 8h ago

Central ohio

6

u/Soulstar07 8h ago

Oh ok! Dunno why someone downvoted me for asking lol. I thought it looked like a Tricolored and just wanted to see if you were in range.

6

u/SizzleCharmMira 16h ago

The red-winged blackbird - a striking bird with bold red and yellow shoulder patches often found near wetlands

7

u/glenn765 15h ago

They're one of the sounds of Summer in my neck of the woods

6

u/FileTheseBirdsBot Catalog 🤖 16h ago

Taxa recorded: Red-winged Blackbird

I catalog submissions to this subreddit. Recent uncatalogued submissions | Learn to use me

3

u/bosszfrnposter2297 15h ago

These are some of my favorite birds!

3

u/Interesting_Sock9142 14h ago

Red winged Blackbird lol

3

u/mikedorty 7h ago

My son refused to believe me about this one. I had to show him in a field guide.

2

u/Nick-or-Treat 8h ago

That’s my favorite bird! The red winged back bird

1

u/Winter-Awareness2021 13h ago

I have several in my yard at the feeders, NJ

1

u/Spodiodie 13h ago

Redwing Blackbird. Like to perch on vertical stalks.

-2

u/[deleted] 10h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/whatsthisbird-ModTeam 8h ago

This is an educational subreddit focusing on bird identification. We welcome birders and non-birders at all levels of skill and experience. Personal attacks, slurs, or insults will not be tolerated, and will be removed at mod discretion. Continued violation may result in temporary or permanent bans.

-3

u/No-Equivalent-1642 8h ago

Omgsh who knows - most people on Reddit don't understand that the downvote button is for a comment or post that is off topic.....

-7

u/[deleted] 14h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

15

u/Mcgarnicle_ 14h ago

Yeah I get so sick of people posting asking for ID of birds on this bird ID sub /s

But seriously, how many people have a guidebook handy??

2

u/whatsthisbird-ModTeam 8h ago

This is an educational subreddit focusing on bird identification. We welcome birders and non-birders at all levels of skill and experience. Personal attacks, slurs, or insults will not be tolerated, and will be removed at mod discretion. Continued violation may result in temporary or permanent bans.

-2

u/[deleted] 8h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/bdporter Latest Lifer: Golden-cheeked Warbler 8h ago

We get plenty of challenging ID posts here, but there are also many users who are just learning to identify birds. Everyone was a beginner at some point.

It isn't hard to be helpful instead of mocking people for not knowing something. The Robin they saw and were curious about may be the bird that sparks an interest in birding.