Bird
Rusty Blackbird
Euphagus carolinus
A winter visitor to Arkansas, found in all 75 counties and 11 habitats.
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 75 counties
- Habitats
- 11

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- All 75 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 Arkansas 11
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

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.
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
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.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Other habitats in its models (58)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Arkansas. Those recorded in Arkansas first, the rest by region.
In Arkansas 1
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Winter.
Elsewhere in the South (27)
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland Winter.
- 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.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Winter.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp 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 (26)
- 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.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier 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 Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory 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.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
- Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous Modifier Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter.
- Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune) Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in Arkansas
- Winter: does not nest here, in all 75 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 Arkansas.
Plant genera in its diet records (1)
- Zea 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Arkansas
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Arkansas, 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.
Rusty Blackbird uses many habitats in Arkansas; these are its 3 most characteristic.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 77
- Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Lesser YellowlegsTringa flavipes
- Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
- Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinica
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- White IbisEudocimus albus
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
Plants 313
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Swamp Chestnut OakQuercus michauxii
- Canada VioletViola canadensis
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Camphor PlucheaPluchea camphorata
- PondberryLindera melissifolia
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Wolf's BluegrassPoa wolfii
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
Swamps
Birds 63
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Little Blue HeronEgretta caerulea
- RedheadAythya americana
- King RailRallus elegans
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
- Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinica
- White IbisEudocimus albus
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
Plants 223
- Black Highbush BlueberryVaccinium fuscatum
- Smallflower BlueberryVaccinium virgatum
- InkberryIlex glabra
- Hoary AzaleaRhododendron canescens
- Small-flower ThoroughwortEupatorium semiserratum
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Dense-flower SmartweedPersicaria densiflora
- Swamp TupeloNyssa biflora
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Fringed SedgeCarex crinita
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 103
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Common LoonGavia immer
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- Pied-billed GrebePodilymbus podiceps
- Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
- Western SandpiperCalidris mauri
- Sandhill CraneGrus canadensis
Plants 17
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodGlottidium vesicarium
- Oklahoma SedgeCarex oklahomensis
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Blunt Spike RushEleocharis obtusa
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Heart Leaf WillowSalix eriocephala
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
- White WillowSalix alba
- Zigzag JointvetchAeschynomene rudis
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
























































