Red-winged Blackbirds in Arizona

Red-winged Blackbirds live in Arizona all year. Low deserts stay mild and host many wintering sparrows and hummingbirds; the high country gets snow. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward grass seeds and waste grain.

Hot Sonoran and Mojave deserts in the south and west, with pine-oak sky islands and the Colorado Plateau rising above 7,000 ft.

Across Arizona, red-winged blackbirds typically nest from March–July. Nest site: woven cup lashed to cattails or shrubs over water. Females lay 2–4 eggs, incubate for 11–13 days, and young leave the nest after 11–14 days.

Summer highs above 110°F in Phoenix and Tucson make water the single strongest attractant; the July monsoon triggers a second breeding pulse.

• Red-winged Blackbirds don't use nest boxes. Keep dense native shrubs and trees such as black cherry, american elderberry, chokecherry for nest sites.
• Delay heavy pruning of shrubs until after July.

Of the regional native plants we track for Arizona, these 8 provide food or cover red-winged blackbirds use:

One of the earliest spring returns in the north; males arrive weeks before females to claim marsh territories.

• Best foods: Cracked corn, Millet, Sunflower.
• In Arizona's winter: Low deserts stay mild and host many wintering sparrows and hummingbirds; the high country gets snow.

Full diet breakdown for red-winged blackbirds · Best feeder for red-winged blackbirds