Red-Winged Blackbird Haiku: Echoes of the Meadow

Nature Haiku Poem About the Red-Winged Blackbird – 5-7-5 Example

The red-winged blackbird is one of the most familiar and striking birds of the grasslands. As a boy, I lived across the street from a meadow and often watched and listened to their calls in the morning. They weren’t just sounds. They felt like sentries posted at the edges of wild fields, warning, watching, and protecting. This haiku remembers those mornings of both beauty and vigilance.

Red-winged Blackbird stands
guard at the gates of meadows—
trills rise from grasses.

Justin Farley

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Hearing the red-winged blackbirds each morning as a child left an impression on me. Their song wasn’t exactly sweet but was easily recognizable. Their bright patches and sharp trills seemed to hold authority over the meadow. This poem grew from those memories: the sense of living near something wild, watchful, and full of hidden meaning.

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Red-winged Blackbirds are quite beautiful birds with the stark contrast of yellow, red, and orange on black. Here are some additional quick, fun facts you might not know:

10 Interesting Facts About Red-winged Blackbirds

1. Red-winged blackbirds are one of the most abundant birds in North America.
2. Males are easily recognized by their bright red and yellow shoulder patches, called epaulets.
3. Females look very different, with brown, streaky plumage that helps them blend into nesting habitats.
4. Males often display their shoulder patches while singing to establish territory.
5. Their song is a distinctive “conk-la-ree!”—a call heard across wetlands and meadows.
6. Red-winged blackbirds are polygamous; one male may mate with several females within his territory.
7. They are highly territorial during breeding season and will even dive-bomb humans who approach too closely.
8. These birds feed on insects in summer and seeds in fall and winter.
9. They migrate in large flocks, sometimes numbering in the millions.
10. In Native American traditions, they symbolize protection, territory, and the connection to wetlands.

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Did you enjoy this bird haiku poem about the Red-winged Blackbird? Here are a few other haiku poems about birds as well as all my online nature poetry.

You can find the rest of my poems about nature that I’ve posted online HERE