Kingdom Animalia Order Passeriformes Scientific name Euphagus Rank Genus | Phylum Chordata Family Icteridae Higher classification Icterid | |
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Lower classifications Brewer's blackbird, Rusty blackbird | ||
Euphagus cyanocephalus
Euphagus is a small genus of American blackbirds. It contains two extant species: Brewer's blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus, and rusty blackbird E. carolinus. A prehistoric relative, Euphagus magnirostris, is known from Late Pleistocene fossils found in the famous tar seeps of Rancho La Brea, California.
The living species are very similar medium-sized birds. Adult males have mainly black plumage and a bright yellow eye; females are dark gray-brown.
Both are migratory, wintering in the southern United States and Mexico, although some Brewer's blackbirds are present all year in the western US.
They build cup nests, and the female alone incubates the eggs. They are gregarious outside the breeding season.
Both species feed on seeds and insects, the rusty having a particularly high insect component to its diet. The fortunes of the two species are contrasting, with Brewer’s expanding east in the Great Lakes region, while rusty shows a worrying decline in numbers.