Populations of Rusty Blackbirds are crashing. Their numbers have plummeted as much as 88-98% over the last few decades, according to data gathered from 1966 to 2006 by the North American Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count.

Bird watchers across North America are being asked to help scientists track migrating Rusty Blackbirds, April 1-7. They can enter their tallies online at eBird, a bird checklist project developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon.

The data collected and reported through eBird will help identify important migration stopover locations and habitats for conservation. It will help researchers examine whether long-term changes to key migration habitats are responsible for the species’ decline.

Please include the following information when reporting.

1. Date, time, and location of the observations
2. Rusty Blackbird flock size, including an estimate of number of males vs. females.
3. General behavior: flying, feeding, loafing (day), roosting (dawn, dusk, night).
4. Habitat: agricultural field, scrub-shrub wetland, forested wetland, shores of rivers or creeks, shores of lakes or ponds.
5. Comments: Please include “Rusty Blackbird Survey” in the comments section so scientists can determine whether you were specifically looking for Rusty Blackbirds during your birding expedition.

Rusty Blackbirds are uncommon blackbirds typically found in wooded swamps and damp forests. At this time of year, their feathers are mostly blackish with females having some rusty edges to the wings and body. Both sexes have “staring” pale eyes.

They can sometimes be confused with other species such as the Common Grackle and the Brewer’s Blackbird. However the grackle is larger and both these look-alikes have longer tails and thicker bills than the Rusty Blackbird. The Brewer’s is also found primarily in open fields rather than wooded areas.

The female Red-winged Blackbird bears some resemblance to the Rusty Blackbird but has streaking on its underparts. Read more on identifying Rusty Blackbirds on the eBird web site.