Song of spring: You can’t miss hearing the sounds of red-winged blackbirds now if you walk along the Boise Greenbelt or any river in southwestern Idaho. In fact, they seem to be everywhere, like at small wetlands and ponds in urban areas. The males are setting up territory this time of the year to get ready for the nesting season. Large groups can get together in a single wetland and make a racket. The song of the blackbird is a gurgling "oak-a-lee," and the call is a dry chek and cheer, according to the Web site www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds.
Pete Zimowsky / pzimowsky@idahostatesman.com