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September 14, 2006  Whitey’s Return It was almost a month ago. I was standing outside a coffee shop in town drinking a take-out brew and watching a mourning dove on the power line when a lady walked up and asked if I’d seen the white-headed blackbird. I hadn’t. She described a black bird with a white head that she saw on her lawn in the company of Starlings. “Perhaps it was a miniature Eagle’ I suggested, which got no chuckles. I told her I would keep an eye out for any such bird. That same day while doing the last of the Loon Watch I saw an impressive flock of Starling in the top of a dead pine. What was so visually arresting about the sight was that there were so many Starlings present that they almost blotted out the treetop, making it seem, in effect, that it was a string of Starlings in the shape of a tree. I stared and wished I had some way to make a photo of such an image. While studying this mass of birds I noticed that many of them were juveniles, black speckled bodied birds with distinctly tan plain heads. Could this have been the white-headed bird the lady saw? A few days later while I was sitting in a coffee shop in town a man came up to me and said he just saw a white headed Blackbird in the parking lot. I knew this person was familiar with birds because he had been on a few of the annual overnight bird treks to Churn creek. He described the sighting as a Brewer’s Blackbird with a white head. I told him I hadn’t seen this bird but would keep an eye out for it. With two people reporting a white-headed Blackbird it now seemed likely that there really was such a bird. I didn’t consult the books, however, knowing that no Blackbird fit that description. Weeks past and though I took the time to scrutinize various flocks of blackbirds around town whenever I saw them, none had white heads. A friend suggested that perhaps I should be looking for a white bird with a black body, rather than a black bird with a white head. Somehow that made some sense. Then I got the call. Guy, sometimes called the woodsman of Willowdale, alternately the duck rancher, phoned to declare that he knew where a sighting of the white headed Blackbird could be had. During this first phone call he was a little guarded about the prospect but I supposed he wanted to confirm it for himself. I think at that point he hadn’t actually seen the bird. I was still a little dubious about the whole ‘white-headed Blackbird’ thing, so again fell into a wait and see mode. Yesterday Guy phoned back. He had seen, and photographed, the white-headed Blackbird. He said that this bird was a regular at this neighbours feeder and if I wanted I could come out tomorrow and see for myself. Of course I wanted to see the bird. It was becoming a legend. The weather changed overnight, going from hot and dry to low cloud and cold. This might change things. However, I drove out to Guy’s place as planned. It was a short drive to his neighbour’s place and as we stepped out of the truck armed with spotting scope and cameras with big lenses the yard was alive with all manner of mammals. Yellow-pine Chipmunks scolded cats from rusting farm machinery, a rotund dog waddled out to greet us, and horses and cows leaned over fences and whinnied and jostled one another. The neighbour reported that ‘old whitey’ had just touched down with a flock and quickly left again. He lifted a bucket on the step to reveal two dazed Brewer’s Blackbirds, a male and female that had just hit the window. The male didn’t look like he was going to make it. We set up our equipment and for a while all was quiet. Six Brewer’s Blackbirds, all black in colour sat silently in the trees. A cold rain began to fall. I wished I had brought gloves. Suddenly a large flock of Blackbird flew in and settled in some nearby poplar trees. Then another flock arrived. I put the scope on the closest bunch and there was the white-headed Blackbird! It did indeed have a white head but not plain white. Small dark marks punctuated the top of the head. I noticed too that other spots on the body had uncharacteristic pale portions as well. The undertail coverts had at least two white feathers, as did the upper tail coverts. One of the primaries had a white streak that was probably the outside edge of one feather. At first the flock would come to the ground. We waited and watched. The neighbour lifted the bucket that covered the two injured Brewer’s Blackbirds. The female flew off to join the nearest flock. The male was dead. I picked it up and noted the brown tinge on the forehead and a pale sheath on the leading primary. Having already seen typical adult male Brewer’s with purple iridescent heads in the trees above I thought this must be a first year male. Finally the flock stirred and came to the ground in a whirl. The white-headed bird was among them. There, as the bird mingled with the rest of the flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, Starlings and predominant Brewer’s Blackbirds, I could gauge and compare the overall plumage. Noting the rather brown overall body colour and the dark eye I ascertained that this was a female Brewer’s Blackbird with uncharacteristic white head and a scattering of other white highlights. The neighbour told us that this was the second year that ‘old whitey’ had come to their property. From this information I deduced that this plumage variation was more or less permanent. In many cases, birds that show some uncharacteristic odd white feathers in one plumage can lose those feathers to the more typical plumage in the next molt. It seemed possible, if this bird was at least two years old, that it might be a white-headed Brewer’s Blackbird all its life. Being a female I imagined it would have no trouble getting a mate. If it were male, perhaps the outcome would not be so likely. After about an hour of the bird coming and going with a nervous flock, we had seen and photographed what we came for and packed up. We thanked the neighbour and left. I finally saw the White-headed Blackbird and had Guy to thank, and the neighbour of course. As we drove back to Guy’s place I didn’t know how to tell him that his hopes of making the front cover of National Geographic with this find was unlikely. Perhaps he should vacation in Cuba with hope of photographing the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. It was an exciting enough sighting on a local level anyway and thanks to Guy and the neighbour for making it happen. To e-mail Tom CLICK HERE To look at previous column CLICK HERE |
