On 30 August 1988 I observed and photographed an immature male Yellow-headed Blackbird CXanthocephalus xanthocephalus) feeding with a flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) outside my window on our farm in Choccolocco Valley near Anniston. Dr. Bill Summerour also observed this bird on 1 September and again with three other AOS members and myself on 4 September. The bird was last seen on 6 September having stayed around for at least 6 days. Its disappearance coincided with attacks by a Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) which frightened the birds and presumably broke up their feeding routine. The Yellow-headed Blackbird is occasional in fall in Alabama and this sighting represented the only record for the Mountain Region.
Author: Rene Simmons Roper
Volume Number: 35 Year Published: 1988
Issue Number: 2-3
Page Number: 24
Link to article: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1988/Vol 35 No. 2 ,3_1988_p24.pdf
Link to the full issue of BirdLife: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1988/Vol 35 No. 2 ,3_1988.pdf
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