Rusty blackbird

Euphagus carolinus Conservation status: VULNERABLE Euphagus carolinus is a species of blackbird distinguished by the reddish-brown tips of its feathers. It ranges widely across the boreal zone of North America, from New England, through Canada to Alaska – the northernmost breeding range of all North American blackbirds – and it winters in the southeastern and midwestern USA. It’s estimated that numbers of rusty blackbirds have declined by around 85–99 per cent since 1966 – one of the steepest declines of any North American species – and it isn’t clear why. The destruction of wetland and woodland habitats may play a part, depriving the species of its preferred breeding sites, or climate change may have altered the chemical composition of these areas as they’ve become progressively drier.