Family: Icterids
Genus & Species : Agelaius tricolor
Status: Locally common in southern California, with a few colonies in excess of 1000 birds. However, the species is highly nomadic and may change nesting annually.
Habitat: A colonial nester in freshwater marshes with healthy cattail stands. They have been known to nest in dry weeds and berry thickets. Look for them as they feed in adjacent agricultural areas, hunting for grasshoppers (their main prey) and other insects.
Best Chances:
In 2012 and 2013 this species nested at the pond on the west side of Jacumba, in the Laguna Mountains. If not found in the cattails there, check around town and in the agricultural fields just east of town.