Bird

Rusty Blackbird

Euphagus carolinus

A winter visitor to Virginia, found in all 133 counties and cities and 19 habitats.

Here: Winter
Nesting: Not known to nest here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 19

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 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 19
Habitat models: Winter

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Virginia 19

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

1 of 19

WinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal WetlandDune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

WinterCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsWet pine flatwoods with a shrub layer. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

WinterCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsSandy pine savanna. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and BaygallDense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

WinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. 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; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

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 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

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

WinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - 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 Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

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

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Hemlock forest / rocky mountain stream, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Mountains of North and South Carolina; exact site not identified, a neighboring state.Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Herbaceous ModifierGrassy mountain bald with shrub islands. Shown: Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, Swain County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, July 2020, Andrea Walton / Great Smoky Mountains National Park, July 2020. Public domain. Source record.

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

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

WinterOnly within 120 m of water.Pasture/Hay

Other habitats in its models (48)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.

Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
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.
Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter, only within 120 m of water.
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.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Winter.
Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Winter.
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Winter.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Winter.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Winter.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Winter.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Winter.
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Winter.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian 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.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Winter, only within 120 m of water.
South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Winter.
North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Winter.