Tricolored Blackbird

Photo By: Tom Grey / American Bird Conservancy

Despite efforts to protect them, tricolored blackbirds are in steep decline, losing 35% of their California population in just three years, according to Audubon California. While the birds once numbered in the millions, today there are believed to be fewer than 260,000, primarily in the San Joaquin Valley.

Wheat farmers often kill the birds as they nest in fields, a natural tragedy all the more poignant because these birds flock together in numbers larger than any other North American land bird. Efforts are underway to protect large colonies on farms, but so far the effort has yielded little success.

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