Yellow-headed Blackbird Hutton Lake Wyoming

Yellow-headed Blackbirds are a striking bird. Two simple, contrasting, primary colors and you have a perfect combination. Too much of either color and the effect would be spoiled. None of this riotous color mixing that you find on some of the South American birds like the Bird of Paradise which is nearly kaleidoscopically colored, for these birds. Just yellow and black, simple is just right. They’re considered to be a common bird which makes them sound as if they don’t deserve closer inspection and respect, but so are Bald Eagles if you live in Homer, Alaska.

You will find them in marshy areas with tall slender reeds that bend in the slightest breeze, hanging on to the stem and swaying back and forth in time to nature’s rhythm. Or sometimes sitting amongst the grey-green of the sage, their bright colors contrasting with the normally bland look of the marsh and its surroundings, they stand out and give life to the otherwise monochromatic view. They aren’t considered a song bird, in fact according to the Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding, their voice, they don’t even dignify them with calling it a song, is a cacophonous scraping or strangling noise, usually preceded by a few warning notes. Hardly a recommendation to the Met.

The noted ornithological song writer, Bob Billan, was so taken by the appearance of this bird that he dedicated his version of the folk song “Yellow is the Color of my True Loves Hair” to this bird. This was in his acoustic phase and some say he didn’t pay as close attention to details as he might have. In his infatuation and confusion however, he failed to note that it is the male of the species who has the bright yellow head while the female is drab in appearance with only a small amount of yellow on her face and breast. When this was pointed out to him they had already recorded the song and it was too late to change the lyrics to prevent offending those people who have a problem with inter-species love. Even though there was a certain amount of protest from the fundamentalists who would have this song banned, you can still hear it played at folk festivals and other places where normal people congregate.

Spring seems to be here at last and with it all the birds we love to see. Especially the Yellow-headed blackbird. I say that’s a good thing.