While it’s not a solid black, the dark plumage has brown and gray shades that help the bird blend into rocky backgrounds. The dark plumage makes the bright orange-red beak with a yellowish tip ...

Above brown and streaked ... One of the most abundant birds in North America, the red-winged’s count was estimated at 190 million in the mid-1970s. Populations are stable.

They have come from Central and Southern Europe, the Mediterranean countries, South and Southeast Asia, and from China and Japan.