Randall, the Ornery Red-Winged Blackbird

I’ve mentioned Randall, the male red-winged blackbird who was determined to keep an eye on me, in that blog post about World Photography Day. It was so much fun writing a blurb about him! But he deserves far more than a blurb.

Oh, Randall.

Was he just highly suspicious of me? Or did he have some sort of a bizarre tsundere (“It’s not like I like you or anything”) avian crush on me? The lines got blurred in the bizarre interactions we had.

Now that I know I’m autistic, with hyper-empathy for animals being one of my most prominent symptoms, I wonder what behaviors Randall saw in me that led to him observing me?

Red-winged Blackbirds

Red-winged blackbirds are quite common, especially near places like wetlands and ponds. Here’s a great, educational video on them from Lesley the Bird Nerd, one of my favorite birding channels on YouTube.

We have a ton of red-winged blackbirds who live in our neighborhood park, typically gathering at the pond or in the nearby trees. The males can be quite territorial, and I’ve read that they’re not afraid to swoop at people if they think it’s necessary.

I’ve been very lucky, especially with all of the close-up photos I’ve taken of them, that our neighborhood red-wings have never decided to come at me. I remember first coming across them in November ’22, when I casually walked into the pond area, curious to see them in the reeds. While they did sound out their alarm calls, they never came at me.

In fact, I think the red-wings are the birds I captured in this fall evening shot:

The females are very good at hiding, and they also look vastly different from the males. That, and they have a very gossipy-sounding call!

Red-winged blackbirds are one of the warier songbirds. They’re nowhere near as friendly as chickadees. From what I have seen, they’re especially keen on not interacting with humans.

But then, there was Randall.

Oh, Randall

Randall was a male red-wing who, for some reason, took to perching on the electric wires over our backyard. Repeatedly. It gave him a great view of the surrounding park…and me, too!

I first became aware of Randall during a walk in the park when I was near our baseball fields. Out of nowhere, a male red-wing descended upon the railing next to me and made a pointed ook-la-ree (their most famous call) at me. Twice.

This same fellow flew to a nearby tree, right over me, and made the same call at the end of my walk. I’m not sure if he was alerting other birds to my presence or was just determined to watch my movements.

I think that was sometime in May or June when I had those encounters. When we came back from our family vacation at Hilton Head Island at the end of June, there was Randall, the same bird as before, perched on our backyard wires. Was he waiting for me?

From that sunny June day up until early August, Randall and I had many, many moments together.

Boy, where do I begin?

I’ve gotten so much footage of Randall on those wires. Here’s one of my favorites.

Looking at these (heehee, for the 100^th time), it’s so interesting to me that half of the time, Randall would either remain on his wire or hop to a higher one when I’d approach. And it’s especially odd to me that he didn’t constantly make that scolding check-check-check sound at me.

From on High

Hands down, the most ludicrous encounter I had with him happened on a morning/noon walk on August 1. I took a few steps outside of our backyard, and Randall wasn’t there.

Well, until he saw me from way, way up in the sky.

Oh, Randall.

All I saw was what initially looked like a crow, hawk, or turkey vulture flying against the bright blue sky. But then, I heard his unmistakable cluck-cluck sound, his calmer but still scolding call, as he descended.

Sure enough, it was Randall, flying down to perch on his favorite tree in front of our backyard just so he could scold me as usual.

Flying down from on high, just for me. That would be quite romantic in almost any other circumstance.

This footage below from that day stands out to me as uniquely suspicious. All Randall did was cluck at me instead of doing his typical loud scolding.

“What am I to You?”

I either earned his ire, his affections, or an avian mix of both. To this day, I’m still unsure of Randall’s true motivations.

The last time I saw him in August was in the following clip, where he was perched on another tree late in the evening:

He made sure to scold me as usual and flew to the electric wires behind me when I got too close to the tree. And when I got to the wires, without him making it obvious, it seemed like Randall was smirking at me as he flew away with one final scolding.

Goodbye, For Now

When I pray, I sometimes joke to God, “Randall abandoned me so callously!” It’s a constant chuckle.

I do miss those July days when I’d go outside, excited to have Randall scold me as I went on my daily walk. While he wasn’t the sweetest companion, his determination to “watch over me” is still charming months later.

About a month or so ago, on a very early morning walk, Randall dropped by to perch on the highest of the wires over our backyard. He saw me walking about, and even while the other red-wings flew away for their daily missions, he momentarily sat alongside the starlings…just to scold me.

On a truly sweet note, it was Randall who introduced me to the lovelier calls that male red-wings make at times. He called out with some beautiful, smooth notes, especially later in the evening.

And he (or another male closer to their roost) made a very happy chee! sound.

I do miss him, all joking aside. Randall gave me some magical moments and great photography opportunities. I hope to see him again soon.

All Photos by Connor Brennan

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