Adult male scarlet-headed blackbird, Amblyramphus holosericeus (protonym, Xanthornus holosericeus), also known as the orange-headed blackbird or as the scarlet-headed marshbird, photographed on the Pantanal Conservation Area in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil.
Image: Nick Athanas/Tropical Birding (with permission) [velociraptorize].
Question: This lovely Brazilian mystery bird should remind you of another species that is a common migrant in North America. What are these "twin" species and how can you distinguish between them?
Response: This is an adult male scarlet-headed blackbird, Amblyramphus holosericeus. This is a South American songbird that is placed into the family, Icteridae. The icterids, whose family name comes from Ancient Greek ikteros ("jaundiced" -- in honour of their yellow plumage), often feature brightly-coloured patches of yellow, orange or red that contrasts against coal-black plumage.
The scarlet-headed blackbird is similar to the yellow-headed blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, a neotropical migrant that breeds throughout the western and central regions of the United States and Canada. Interestingly, another resident South American icterid also shows a colour reversal from its neotropical cousin; the yellow-shouldered blackbird, Agelaius xanthomus (South America) and the red-winged blackbird, A. phoeniceus (neotropical migrant) are colour-reversed "twins". Except in this case, these are actually sister species -- each other's closest relatives -- whilst the scarlet-headed and yellow-headed blackbirds are merely distant cousins whose colour patterns are the result of convergent evolution.
Like its neotropical colour-reversed "twin", the scarlet-headed blackbird is a wetland species that inhabits reed beds in marshes. Males sing to attract females, although their song is not very musical in quality, typical for icterids.
Here's a video of a male scarlet-headed blackbird "singing" (Toronto Zoo; April 2010):
This species has a remarkably long and slender bill -- even for icterids. This long slender bill is especially useful for scarlet-headed blackbirds' special feeding technique. They poke their bill into the earth then open it whilst it's still inside the earth to extract insects or their larvae that might be lurking there. This feeding behaviour is known as "gaping". European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, also feed in this way.
Here's a video that shows a male scarlet-headed blackbird "gaping" (Vogelpark Walsrode Germany; April 2011 -- be forewarned: the sound quality of this video is poor):
You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.
If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at The Guardian, feel free to contact me to learn more.
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