Red-winged Blackbird

I believe these two Red-winged Blackbirds are young birds. Immatures of this species are often very similar to adult females. The first photo, taken on 11 August 2020 at the Nisqually wildlife refuge, shows the yellow in the face typical of immature birds. The second photo, taken on 19 September 2020 at Capitol Lake in OIympia, has pointy tail feathers, as do most immature birds. Red-winged Blackbirds enjoy a variable diet, usually taking more animal matter during the breeding season, and more plant material in the winter. The bird in the second photo appears to be eating alder seeds, which would hardly be surprising, although not specifically mentioned as a food source by Yasukawa and Searcy (2020). These authors, nevertheless, list “tree seeds” in their discussion of Red-winged Blackbird diet.