Nest Building

The first Redwinged Blackbirds returned to this part of Indiana towards the end of February. The birds return in waves and the earliest birds are the older, more experienced males. The early birds grab the best nesting sites and have the best chance of a mate when the females show up a week or two later.

Nests are sometimes built a couple of feet off the ground attached to the grasses and sedges of wetlands. This guy was hunting up some nesting material the day I spotted him at Coffee Creek.