RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD
(Agelaius phoeniceus)
About 9½ inches long, the red-wing breeds in most of North America; it winters in the southern half of United States and down clear to Costa Rica.
The prairies of the upper Mississippi Valley, with their numerous sloughs and ponds, furnish ideal nesting places for red-wings, and this region has become the great breeding ground for the species, pouring forth the vast flocks that sometimes play havoc with grainfields. Red-wings are gregarious, living in flocks and breeding in communities. Their food is about one-fourth insects and three-fourths vegetable.
ROBIN
(Turdus migratorius)
Probably the best known of the United States birds, and widely believed a harbinger of spring, adults are 10 inches long. They breed in the United States and Canada, and winter in most of the United States, ranging south to Guatemala.
One of the most cherished of our native birds, the robin is an omnivorous feeder. While its food includes many worms and insects, it is especially fond of fruit, particularly cherries, mulberries, and strawberries. Like the bluebird, it is a thrush.
Highly adaptable, it is friendly and trusting in cities and towns, and wild and distrustful of man when living in wilderness areas.