New World Blackbirds (Icteridae)

Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) - HBW 16, p. 803

French: Carouge à tête jaune German: Brillenstärling Spanish: Tordo Cabeciamarillo

Taxonomy: Icterus xanthocephalus Bonaparte, 1826, Nebraska, USA.
Analyses of mitochondrial DNA indicate that this species is distantly related to Sturnella; resembles Agelaius in breeding ecology, but displays quite different. Monotypic.

Distribution: Breeds in SC Canada (from interior British Columbia E to N Saskatchewan, SC Manitoba and SW Ontario) S in W & C USA to California, C New Mexico, N Kansas, N Illinois and Michigan and extreme NW Mexico (NE Baja California); migrates to S USA and Mexico (S to N Oaxaca and Veracruz).