Red-winged Blackbirds in California

Red-winged Blackbirds live in California all year. Wet, mild winters are the green season — the busiest time at coastal feeders as sparrows and hummingbirds settle in. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward grass seeds and waste grain.

Mediterranean along the coast and Central Valley, alpine in the Sierra Nevada, and desert in the southeast.

Across California, 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.

Dry summers with little rain from May to October; water and summer-blooming natives matter more than extra seed.

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

Of the regional native plants we track for California, 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 California's winter: Wet, mild winters are the green season — the busiest time at coastal feeders as sparrows and hummingbirds settle in.

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