Red-winged blackbird

The red-winged blackbird is a North American bird through and through. It is a native songbird approximately the size of a northern cardinal.

The bird can be found summering as far north as Alaska, and may be found as far south as Costa Rica in Central America.

Over most of the continental U.S., this bird is a year-round resident. It seriously challenges the claim of being North America's most abundant land bird, with estimates of well over 200 million living birds in any given year.

The European starling, on the other hand, can be viewed as an American tragedy. It was introduced to North America during the 19th century and is now established throughout all of the continental U. S. and most of Canada.

It is considered a nuisance in many cities, and although it is a beautiful bird in the physical sense, it is almost always thought of as an aggressive, unwanted presence at feeders filled for native birds. The European starling is now so plentiful it is seriously challenging the red-winged blackbird as North America's most numerous land bird.

In my photo here, the native red-winged blackbird is flying over the non-native starling that sits on a roadside sign in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri.