Bird
Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus
Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 25 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 25

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 25
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 25
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.







Streams, rivers and their banks


Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
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.
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.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone



Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Granite and other acidic rock outcrops
Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.
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 between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (176)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Summer and winter.
- Developed, High Intensity Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer and winter.
- Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer and winter.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer and winter.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer and winter.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Winter, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer and winter.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer and winter.
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer and winter.
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter.
- Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer and winter.
- Florida Dry Prairie Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Summer and winter.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer and winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer and winter.
- Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Winter, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer and winter.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer and winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Winter, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
- Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer and winter.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer and winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer and winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer and winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Winter, beside its main habitat.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Cumberland Riverscour Summer.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Winter, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Red River Large Floodplain Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer and winter.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Winter, beside its main habitat.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Winter, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer and winter.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Winter, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer and winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Winter, beside its main habitat.
Seasons in Virginia
- Year-round: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.
Also found in this habitat
Plants 1174
Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.
- Red MapleAcer rubrum
- Pignut HickoryCarya glabra
- White OakQuercus alba
- Flowering DogwoodBenthamidia florida
- Mountain LaurelKalmia latifolia
- TuliptreeLiriodendron tulipifera
- SweetgumLiquidambar styraciflua
- BlackgumNyssa sylvatica
- SourwoodOxydendrum arboreum
- Virginia CreeperParthenocissus quinquefolia
- Loblolly PinePinus taeda
- Sun-facing ConeflowerRudbeckia heliopsidis
- Mockernut HickoryCarya tomentosa
- American BeechFagus grandifolia
- White AshFraxinus americana
- Northern SpicebushLindera benzoin
- Virginia PinePinus virginiana
- Southern Red OakQuercus falcata
- Chestnut OakQuercus montana
- Post OakQuercus stellata
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Black HuckleberryGaylussacia baccata
- Box HuckleberryGaylussacia brachycera
- Christmas FernPolystichum acrostichoides
Wildlife 262
Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in Virginia. Not sighting records.
- Thayer's GullLarus thayeri
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- DovekieAlle alle
- Golden EagleAquila chrysaetos
- Hoary RedpollCarduelis hornemanni
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- BuffleheadBucephala albeola
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
- Common MerganserMergus merganser
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Long-tailed DuckClangula hyemalis
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Red-winged Blackbird
- 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)















































