Geographic variation in Yellow-headed Blackbirds from the northern Great Plains

The Condor
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Abstract

We assessed geographic variability in morphology among Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) collected from breeding populations in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the United States and Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan in Canada during spring. Both male and female Yellow-headed Blackbirds tended to be larger in the more northern breeding populations. Males collected in Manitoba and southeast Saskatchewan tended to be more like populations from the United States, whereas other populations in Saskatchewan and Alberta populations were morphologically similar to each other. For females, however, only the Manitoba population was similar to the U. S. populations, and the females from the southeastern Saskatchewan were similar to other Saskatchewan birds. Southeastern Saskatchewan appears to represent a transitional region between northwestern and southeastern breeding populations of Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Geographic variation in Yellow-headed Blackbirds from the northern Great Plains
Series title The Condor
DOI 10.2307/1369112
Volume 96
Issue 4
Year Published 1994
Language English
Publisher American Ornithological Society
Contributing office(s) National Wetlands Research Center
Description 7 p.
First page 1030
Last page 1036
Country Canada, United States
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