Male Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) displaying on cattail. Males are black with bright red shoulder patches. Although primarily a marsh bird the Red-Winged Blackbird will nest near virtually any body of water and occuasionally breeds in upland pastures. After the breeding season, the birds gather with other blackbirds in flocks, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Tucson, AZ.