This June I spent a good deal of time at the Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area photographing in particular the mating display of the Yellow-headed Blackbirds that adorn this great birding spot. The marsh is site number SW31 on the Idaho Birding Trail and I highly recommend birding there in the early spring through July. During the first part of June or late May depending on the weather, the Camas lily bloom is a sight to behold and it is wonderful to photograph birds among them.
Yellow-headed Blackbirds are beyond plentiful at the marsh and I spend approximately 20 hours over the course of several days working to capture images that illustrated the contortions of their mating display. There was one fence line on the west end of the marsh that was a particularly good spot to stack out to get shots of the males displaying and the females responding to their bravado and earnest mating song.
These images are presented at resolutions ranging from 120 dpi to 200 dpi and all but the last one were taken along the same fence line.
She finally arrives!
The “cloacal kiss”, copulation the goal of all his efforts and gyrations only lasts a matter of seconds.
Voila! I am so handsome and studly they just can’t resist me!
The female builds the nest in the male’s territory. She usually lays 3 to 7 eggs and the incubation period lasts 12 to 13 days. The young leave the nest between 9 and 12 days of age but they can’t fly until they are about 21 days old. The male helps with brood care.
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