How to Identify aBrewer's Blackbird
Euphagus cyanocephalus · 7.9–9.8 in (20–25 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Black with an iridescent purple head and greenish body sheen, and a bright pale yellow eye.
Female
Plain gray-brown all over with a dark eye — much duller than the male.
Male photo: Alan D. Wilson / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Female photo: Mike Baird from Morro Bay, USA / Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0
Field marks
- Bright pale yellow eye on a black male
- Purple-glossed head against a green-glossed body
- Slim, straight, sharply pointed bill
- Walks with a jerky head-bobbing stride
Similar species
What it sounds like
A short, creaky, rasping "k-sheee", plus sharp check notes.
Behaviour that gives it away
Walks with a distinct head-jerking gait across pavement, unlike the hopping of most songbirds.
Habitat & range
Parking lots, lawns, farmland, roadsides and city parks across the West and Midwest.
When you'll see it
Present all year in western and central North America.
What it eats
Insects, seeds, grain and scraps.
Did you know?
It expanded east across the continent through the twentieth century by following roads, farms and irrigated land.
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