By Kenneth Turner Blackshaw

Hello there readers, this is the first in a series of weekly bird columns for the Independent, and please let me introduce myself to you. I was born here on the island in 1941 and have been studying birds since my mother, Merle Orleans, introduced me, at age 12, to Edith Folger Andrews, Nantucket's number one bird lady. I have studied birds all over the world and am the author and editor of several area guides. Edith and I published the first 'Birding Nantucket' guide in 1977 and are now five cycles into that writing journey with the 2003 edition that came out in the spring of this year.

Edith of course writes a weekly column in the other paper and I don't aspire to compete with that. Rather what these columns will do is pick a particular species that is around Nantucket as the column is written and tell you that bird's story.

This week we're seeing a lot of Red-winged Blackbirds. This species is on the island all year long, but right now, there are flocks of them migrating past, bounding through the air in groups of twenty to a hundred or so. These flocks tend to look peculiar because there seem to be two kinds of birds in the flock. This is because the males and the females look so different, and also many of the birds have almost no tails. If you are near the Lily Pond or perhaps, Miacomet Pond as a flock goes over, listen for the "Tchack" contact calls they use to keep together.

The male Redwing is well described by his name. He is black overall except for an epaulet of red, bordered with light yellow on the upper portion of his wing. Unfortunately, the red is often hidden when they are at rest, leaving just a yellow crescent visible. In flight, the red shows up well and in fact, when they are defending their nesting territory during the summer, they will fly toward an intruder and actually inflate this red patch so it looks larger, holding their wings out like a body builder flexing his muscles to impress an audience. Usually he sings at the same time, "Con-quereee", the notes rising with the syllables. Even when sitting at the top of a cattail he puffs up almost twice normal size before delivering his challenge to all other Red-winged Blackbirds.

The female Redwing, on the other hand, presents a great challenge to beginning birders because it is neither black, nor does it have a red wing. Mrs. Redwing is a brown, stripy rather sparrow-like bird and is best known by the company she keeps. When you see male Redwings, look for their brown partners. When on the ground, all Redwings walk rather than hop and this is a useful thing to watch for -- walking vs. hopping. Many confusing species are separated by this characteristic.

To make it even more fun, at this time of the year about half the population is made up of "hatch-year" birds that are just molting into their first winter plumage. So many males are blotchy, black and brown, with their red epaulets just starting to emerge in the wings. Also many individuals are still growing out tail feathers, making them look a bit like Starlings.

Let's discuss Starlings for a moment because they are often lumped in with blackbirds. They are not true blackbirds but are actually a Eurasian species that was introduced into North America in the late 1800's and has now spread everywhere. They are a strongly competitive species and have displaced many native species, one of the worst hit being our bluebirds which nest in tree holes and birdhouses with the same sized opening the Starling prefers. We see huge flocks of Starlings at this time of the year. They are impressive as they wheel, turn and dive together in a single motion, their large globular flocks seeming to disappear, then reappear as the birds cycle through their flight patterns. Starlings have very short tails, which normally helps to separate them from Redwings except at this time of year!

Anyway, the Redwings now winging past will continue on farther south leaving only a token group behind that will tough out the winter, hanging around some of the more lavishly supplied feeders. You have to know where to look for them in the dead of winter but they normally survive the roughest conditions. Our Christmas Bird Counts have found an average of 150 Red-winged Blackbirds over the past ten years.

In late February or early March though, new birds appear from the south, normally males trying to stake out the best parts of the fresh water swamps. We hear the "Con-queree" calls and immediately feel that winter will soon be past us. So, these Redwings passing now will rouse us from our winter doldrums. Say farewell as they wing past to more temperate climes for the winter.

If you enjoy social birding, every Sunday a group meets in the parking lot in front of the Nantucket High School at 8 a.m.

To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 888-224-6444.