Bird
Rusty Blackbird
Euphagus carolinus
A winter visitor to Alabama, found in all 67 counties and 11 habitats.
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 11

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 11
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Alabama 11
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.


Streams, rivers and their banks


Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Other habitats in its models (56)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama. Those recorded in Alabama first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (29)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Winter.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Winter.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Winter.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Winter.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Winter.
Northeast (3)
- Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Winter.
Midwest (1)
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Land cover and other classes (23)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Winter.
- Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Winter.
- Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Winter.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Winter.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous Modifier Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in Alabama
- Winter: does not nest here, in all 67 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
No native plants of these genera are recorded in Alabama.
Plant genera in its diet records (1)
- Zea 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Alabama
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Alabama, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 104
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
Plants 418
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- White Panicled Aster; Eastern Lined AsterSymphyotrichum lanceolatum var. latifolium
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia umbrosa
- Rudbeckia fulgida var. spathulataRudbeckia spathulata
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Spruce Pine; Walters Pine; Cedar PinePinus glabra
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
Moist forests
Birds 69
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
Plants 337
- Smooth Blue AsterSymphyotrichum laeve
- Fewflower Tick-trefoilHylodesmum pauciflorum
- Umbrella MagnoliaMagnolia tripetala
- Pointedleaf Tick-trefoilHylodesmum glutinosum
- Smooth Carrion-flowerSmilax herbacea
- American Basswood; American LindenTilia americana var. caroliniana
- Huger's Carrion-flowerSmilax hugeri
- Leonard's Witch HazelHamamelis ovalis
- Bryson's SedgeCarex brysonii
- Carex acidicolaCarex acidicola
- American SennaSenna hebecarpa
- Early BluegrassPoa cuspidata
Pine flatwoods
Birds 52
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- Mississippi KiteIctinia mississippiensis
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Common Ground-doveColumbina passerina
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Gray KingbirdTyrannus dominicensis
- Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
Plants 214
- Vaccinium darrowiiVaccinium darrowii
- Vaccinium myrsinitesVaccinium myrsinites
- Hypericum microsepalumHypericum microsepalum
- Coreopsis pubescens var. debilisCoreopsis pubescens var. debilis
- Oclemena reticulataOclemena reticulata
- Clematis socialisClematis socialis
- Pycnanthemum nudumPycnanthemum nudum
- Curtiss' BeakrushRhynchospora curtissii
- Rhynchospora fernaldiiRhynchospora fernaldii
- Sporobolus curtissiiSporobolus curtissii
- Dwarf MilkwortPolygala nana
- Savanna Yellow-eyed-grassXyris flabelliformis
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Rusty Blackbird Fresh water only
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus















































