USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

Platte River Status: A common migrant and uncommon summer resident. The first spring migrants arrive in mid March and fall departure occurs by late October. Rosche (1979) reported Brewer's blackbirds as primarily a migrant species in the lower North Platte River Valley with records in March, May, and October. Only one observation, 28 July 1979, was reported from the nesting season. Johnsgard (1979) reported one nesting record from Hall County, which is the only confirmed nest record we have from the study area.

Breeding Range: During the nesting season, Brewer's blackbird is apparently restricted to the western Dissected Plain, Western Plain and Sandhills physiographic regions. Most records are from west of the 100o W. longitude meridian.

Breeding Population: In 1979-1980, the breeding population was estimated at 2,335 breeding pairs. Most of the Brewer's blackbirds we found were in Keith County.

Habitat: We found the highest mean nesting densities in lowland forest and in upland native prairie. Nesting habitat of this species is generally described as roadsides, marsh edges, and upland native prairie.

Effect of Habitat Alteration: Because of their association with upland native prairie in the western third of our study area, we suspect that there has been minimal negative impact on nesting birds from the conversion of native grasslands to other uses.

Nesting Data: We have no confirmed records of nests or eggs from the study area. North Dakota egg dates range from 25 May to 1 July (Stewart 1975).