Tricolored Blackbirds are Back!

This photo was taken in February 2016, when NRCS biologist Jesse Bahm spotted a forming colony of approximately 1,500 Tricolored Blackbirds in Fresno County.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) California biologist Jesse Bahm recently spotted a forming colony of Tricolored Blackbirds in Fresno County. This annual phenomena happens in early Spring, and is always a wonderful sight because it demonstrates the survival of this important species.

For four years, Bahm has hit the road searching for Tricolored Blackbird colonies. When he identifies a colony, typically 5,000–15,000 in size, the local NRCS field office will then create a conservation plan with the property owner to delay silage harvest to allow the young birds to successfully fledge.

NRCS biologist Jesse Bahm takes a break from assessing a nesting colony of Tricolored Blackbirds in Tulare County in May 2015.

Tricolored Blackbirds build large colonies of nests in the Central Valley areas that were once marshy ecosystems and are now cropland. The typical nesting cycle lasts approximately 35 days, before the young birds can safely leave their nest.

About 43 percent of the birds now use silage crops such as triticale and wheat to build their nests. Since Tricolored Blackbirds are colonial nesters, thousands of birds may impact — and be impacted by — farming operations where they build their nests. The species is now federally listed as a Bird of Conservation Concern, emergency listed as a State of California Endangered Species, and also protected under the provisions of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Tricolored Blackbirds can be identified by distinctive white stripes on the bottom of their red shoulder patches.

NRCS provides an incentive payment to the property owner to offset the cost of delaying their harvest due to lost value in the silage. Over the past four years, farmers’ participation has resulted in nesting success for tens of thousands of birds.

Furthermore, NRCS works with conservation partners like Audubon California, Dairy Cares, the Farm Bureau of San Joaquin County, Sustainable Conservation, and Western United Dairymen through a NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program project. The long term goal is to invest technical and financial resources to create or improve wetland habitat, on land adjacent to farms, for the birds to nest there for long-term sustainability.

Check back next week for another story and updated information on the 2016 Tricolored Blackbird nesting season. For questions, please contact NRCS at (530) 792–5692.

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