Audubon: Early Drawings, Harvard University Press 2008.

Le Commandeur: Red Winged Starling. Sturnus Predatorius. Asclepias Syriaca. [Henderson, Kentucky], 1810 June. Pastel, graphite, and ink on paper; 38 x 22 cm. Signed JJA. Audubon no. 105, Houghton no. 47.

Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). Size 6.5-9 inches. Male (female, plate 10). The red-winged blackbird is one of the most common songbirds in North America and is here depicted on a milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). Males of this species are conspicuous early arrivals each spring to North American grasslands and marshes. As in many species breeding in the temperate zone, the males arrive on the territories earlier than females. Their loud calls are delivered while perched high on the tips of cattails on the marsh. One of Audubon’s classifications for this species, “Sturnus Predatorius,” links it mistakenly with the genus to which the ubiquitous European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) belongs; why the species name “Predatorius” should apply to red-winged blackbirds is unclear, unless it is meant to indicate that the bird is a predator of insects and dragonfly larvae.

To see a more modern artist’s rendition of red-winged blackbirds, click here.