Red-winged Blackbird
6/21/202655 min
👕 Bird Merch — Get yourself some bird shirts!
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Episode 135 takes on one of North America's most recognizable birds: the Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus. With a population possibly approaching 200 million, this species is a fixture of wetlands and marshes across the continent, and one of the most intensively studied birds in ornithology.
Ivan explores the biology and behavior that make this bird so compelling: its striking sexual dimorphism, the surprisingly complex story behind those iconic red epaulets, and a breeding system that turns out to be far messier than it first appears. Territorial wars, interspecies conflict, and the occasional human casualty are all part of the picture.
The episode also digs into the Red-winged Blackbird's fraught relationship with agriculture—from the enormous crop damage these birds can cause to the high-tech and sometimes controversial methods farmers use to manage them. And despite being among the most abundant birds on the continent, the species has seen a significant population decline over recent decades.
Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsIvan Phillipson· Host0:01
I'm super excited to announce that I've got a bunch of new T-shirt designs available now on birdmerch.com. Bird Merch is my online store where I've got bird-related T-shirts. Maybe someday I'll have more stuff, but for now it's all T-shirts. So for this spring 2026, I've got 20 new designs for you that I've been working on for the last six months or so. These feature species like the American Dipper, Pileated Woodpecker, Ruddy Duck, Northern Flicker, American Woodcock, Northern Mockingbird, and more. These are designs made by me, and I'm excited for you to check them out, see if anything catches your eye. Maybe grab yourself a shirt and wear it while you're out birding this spring and summer, showing everybody how much you love birds and how cool you are. It's been really fun to create these. When I started Bird Merch, it was partly because I've always loved wearing graphic tees and I love making them. So at this point, my drawers are basically full of Bird Merch T-shirts, and that's it. That's all I wear. And pants. I also wear pants, just to be clear. The point is, I am a customer of my own product. I dig these shirts. They're comfortable. They've got nice colors. And of course, yes, I am super biased because I made the designs, but I really like them and I hope you will too. Check everything out at birdmerch.com, and I'll put a link in the show notes. Cool. Now let's get on with the show.