Unicolored blackbird
Unicolored blackbird (Agelasticus cyanopus) is a bird in the Icteridae family. It lives in parts of South America, from northern Bolivia and southern Brazil to Argentina and Paraguay, including much of the lower Amazon region.
Habitat: It favors swamps, wetlands at the edge of ponds and lakes, and nearby grasslands, up to about 600 metres in elevation. It is especially common in the Brazilian Pantanal.
Description: The male is all glossy black with dark eyes. The female is brown and black with a yellow belly and a dark facial mask; wings are reddish-brown edged with black. Legs and iris are black, and the bill is long and pointed. Some females from the Amazon and southeastern Brazil are duller in color.
Behavior: It usually lives in pairs and is not very social. It moves on floating vegetation and forages among reeds, staying close to water.
Calls: Its loud call sounds like "tchew-tchew-tchew" from an elevated perch, plus various trills and rattling sounds.
Conservation: The species has a large range and a stable population, with more than 10,000 mature birds. It faces no major threats, and the IUCN classifies it as Least Concern.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 00:15 (CET).