Brewer's Blackbird

Status Rare vagrant. The first reports of this species came from Harrison F. Lewis, who observed three males associating with Common Grackles and Rusty Blackbirds at a Shelburne feeder in mid-February 1957, and from Robie W. Tufts, who saw what he believed to be a male Brewer's Blackbird near Digby on 7 December of the same year.

Since then there have been 13 reports involving 15 individuals, including the more readily distinguished females. Spring birds were reported on Cape Sable on 29 March 1961 and 7 May 1979 (B.J. and S. Smith) and on Seal Island between 14 and 29 May 1978 (two birds, several observers). The others have appeared in fall and winter: four in September (earliest 23 September), two each in October and November, one each in January and February, and one on Sable Island between 30 November 1969 and early March 1970; other than the Sable Island bird, these have occurred at Dartmouth (two birds), Lockeport, Shelburne, Cape Sable, Economy (Colchester County) and on Brier (two birds) and Seal islands. Females were diagnostically photographed by Ian A. McLaren at Dartmouth on 13 November 1971 and by Russel Crosby at Lockeport during January 1977.

Remarks Brewer's Blackbird is a western and mid-western species whose breeding range has been expanding eastward. It is a regular vagrant to the east that may be overlooked because of its similarity to the Rusty Blackbird. Males, unlike those of the Rusty Blackbird, show glossy purple on the head and do not develop rusty feather edgings in winter. Females are brownish gray, with darker wings and backs and without any rusty tones; the best mark is their dark brown eye (but note that juvenile Rusty Blackbirds may also have dark eyes). Careful comparisons also reveal the relatively longer tail and more conical bill of the Brewer's Blackbird.