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Articles

Vol. 50 No. 3 (2019)

TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS FEEDING IN JOSHUA TREE INFLORESCENCES

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21199/WB50.3.6
Submitted
September 15, 2025
Published
July 1, 2019

Abstract

 The Tricolored Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) is endangered (Birdlife International 2018) and declining rapidly (Cook and Toft 2005, Meese 2017), designated as threatened by the state of California (Calif. Dept. Fish and Wildlife 2019), and nearly endemic to the California ecoregion (Kelsey 2008). It breeds somewhat nomadically (Hamilton 1998), which behavior has hampered its conservation. For its declining population to be managed, it is essential that the resources on which it depends for food and habitat be understood (Skorupa et al. 1980). Here we describe a previously unknown behavior of the Tricolored Blackbird, foraging in the inflrescences of a common plant.

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