Danna Malcolm
Pflugerville, TX, USA
These birds flew in about 2 weeks ago and came through in waves every couple of days (or so it seemed). There were at a minimum of 25 in a flock, possibly more. I am inexperienced and don’t know the rules of birdwatching. I just watch birds and love to take pictures. Well, I had assumed they were Starlings, but then my sister who watches birds more seriously than I do, thought possible Purple Finches. But, then, because the birds were feeding on the ground that did not seem a correct id. I finally found Lark Buntings seemed similar, but it is really hard to tell from the pictures online. The pictures in my Birds of Texas were more similar.
They look like they could be female Red-winged Blackbirds to me, though it would be somewhat odd (as you usually don’t see a flock that large of like-gender birds.) If you’re still interested, I’d recommend looking more into that as an option 🙂
Hi Danna, These are female Red-winged Blackbirds. Males migrate first in the spring, and females arrive later to breeding grounds, so it seems plausible they would all be migrating together in a flock (as males do).