Bird

Rusty Blackbird

Euphagus carolinus

A winter visitor to North Carolina, found in all 100 counties and 20 habitats.

Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 20

Male Rusty Blackbird, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Derek Spencer, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 492319024. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 20
Habitat models: Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 20

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 20

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large FloodplainNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland SystemsRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

WinterCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsGeorge Inness, Georgia Pines (1890): tall, straight pines over an open, grassy floor in a south Georgia pine woods. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Georgia pine woods (George Inness, 1890; site not named), a neighboring state.Georgia Pines, George Inness (1825-1894), 1890. Public domain. Source record.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)*Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70*, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

WinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland; Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

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.

Winter

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

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.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

Winter

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

WinterCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Southern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointCove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Pasture/HayLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr)*Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain"*, Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest

Mountain balds

Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous Modifier

Other habitats in its models (48)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (27)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh 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.
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.
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.
South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Winter.
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 (17)

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.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Winter.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Winter.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

Winter: does not nest here, in all 100 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 North Carolina.

Plant genera in its diet records (1)

Zea 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, 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 North Carolina; these are its 3 most characteristic.