Birds of North Carolina
their Distribution and Abundance
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
ICTERIDAE Members:
General Comments
The Brewer's Blackbird is an abundant bird of the Western half of the country. It is somewhat migratory, and many birds fly to the southeast, to winter very locally in some Southeastern states. Though it winters somewhat regularly in scattered sites from Georgia westward, in North Carolina there is just one known regular wintering locale, around cattle feedlots at the privately-owned Open Ground Farms in central Carteret. Why the species is regular there, and essentially nowhere else in the state with suitable cattle feedlots, is a mystery. Otherwise, the species is usually seen as single birds amid large flocks of Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, and/or Brown-headed Cowbirds, feeding on the ground in plowed fields or near cattle; the great majority of these are from the Coastal Plain. However, because small numbers winter in Georgia and perhaps South Carolina, it is likely that a few routinely occur in migration in the southwestern mountains, where there are more records than anywhere else in the state in spring and fall. This species -- both the male and the female -- is easily overlooked unless seen at close range; counterbalancing this, some published reports are likely to be mis-identifications.
Breeding Status
Nonbreeder
NC BRC List
The species' status on the List of Bird Species of North Carolina: either Definitive, Provisional, or Extinct, as administered by the NC Bird Records Committee. The Provisional List contains species for which there are less than three accepted sight (i.e., non-documented) records. Species of unaccepted origin are not included on the List of Bird Species of North Carolina.
Definitive
State Status
none
U.S. Status
Definitive
State Rank
S1N
Global Rank
G5
Coastal Plain
Possible winter resident; otherwise a sparse winter visitor and transient. Formerly known to winter regularly only in central Carteret (since the winter of 1987-88), where at times more than 10 birds could be seen; however, access to this private site has been closed for a number of years and thus there is no idea if birds still winter there. Several birds were seen for four winters (Dec 2015 - Feb 2019) at a site in eastern Hyde. Elsewhere, rare in the Tidewater zone -- more likely within a few miles of lakes Mattamuskeet, Phelps, or Pungo; very rare elsewhere. Not expected on coastal islands, but a female was photographed near Salvo (Dare) on 24 Oct 2024. Primarily mid-Nov to mid-Feb; early date is 16 Oct and late date is 2 Apr. Peak counts: 125, Pungo Lake, 4 Feb 1991, both males and females seen; 50-65, Open Ground Farms in Carteret, winter 1987-88. Peak count elsewhere: 16, Gum Swamp Road (Hyde), 5 Jan 2019; 10, Gum Swamp Road, 8 Feb 2018; 8, near Halifax in that county, 5 Jan 2025.
Piedmont
Scarce (very rare) transient and winter visitor, as the province is generally east of the migration routes; some published records are certainly of mid-identifications. Mainly late Oct to mid-Feb; early date is 14 Oct and late date is 29 Apr. Of note is that presumably the male seen near Franklinton (Franklin) in late Feb 2025 returned with another male in fall 2025, being first found on 28 Nov and remaining into Dec; this might be the first instance of an individual of this species returning for a second "winter" in the province. Peak count: (only) 6, Lake Norman, 21 Dec 1997.
Mountains
Scarce, though a regular transient and very rare in winter. Rare in southern mountain valleys, and casual in the northern half of the province. All reports from Buncombe, Henderson, Macon, and Transylvania, except for single records in Avery, Madison, and Watauga. Scattered from 1 Nov to 16 Apr, but mainly in Nov and Apr. Peak counts: 10, Franklin (Macon), 25 Nov 2014; 9, northern Watauga, 16 Nov 2014; 5, Hooper Lane (Henderson), 29 Nov - 1 Dec 2016; 4, Hooper Lane,10 Nov 2003; 4, Fletcher (Henderson), 14 Mar 2020.
Finding Tips
*
Arrangements to access Open Ground Farms have always been tricky, and this is not a good option. Recently, a small horse pasture southeast of Lake Mattamuskeet hosted a few individuals for four winters in a row, but seem to have disappeared in recent winters. Otherwise, you must try to find one on your own, and this usually requires much patience pouring over hundreds and hundreds of blackbirds, in dozens of flocks, as they are feeding on the ground. (Attempting to identify one perched in a tree is not feasible; they can be easily confused with other species against the sky or clouds.)