Yellow-headed blackbird
Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus (Bonaparte, 1826)
The yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) is a species in the family Icteridae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 49.3 g to 89.3 g and live up to 11.7 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the yellow-headed blackbird
- Weight
- 49.3 g – 89.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 11.7 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Granivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 18 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 12.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.72src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 9.49 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.25src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the yellow-headed blackbird
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the yellow-headed blackbird live?
Not recorded
What is the yellow-headed blackbird?
The yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) is a medium-sized blackbird with a yellow head.
It is the only member of the genus Xanthocephalus. Their scientific name derives from the Greek word for yellow, xanthous, and the word for head, cephalus.
From the Wikipedia article “Yellow-headed blackbird” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow-headed_blackbird&oldid=1380782640), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the yellow-headed blackbird sound like?
Is the yellow-headed blackbird endangered?
The yellow-headed blackbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the yellow-headed blackbird classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyIcteridae
- genusXanthocephalus
- SpeciesXanthocephalus xanthocephalus (Bonaparte, 1826)
Synonyms Icterus icterocephalus, Icterus xanthocephalus, Psarocolius perspicillatus
Other names and names in other languages (48)
- Xanthocephalus xanthocephalusEnglish
- Yellow-headed TroopialEnglish
- شحرور أصفر الرأسArabic
- federal capgrocCatalan
- Merla de cap grocCatalan
- vlhovec žlutohlavýCzech
- tresglen benfelenWelsh
- Gulhovedet TrupialDanish
- BrillenstärlingGerman
- Gelbkopf-SchwarzstärlingGerman
- flavkapa ikteroEsperanto
- Flavkapa trupialoEsperanto
- Tordo CabecidoradoSpanish
- Tordo cabeciamarilloSpanish
- Tordo cabeza amarillaSpanish
- hundinuia-turpialEstonian
- سیاهمرغ سرزردPersian
- keltahupputurpiaaliFinnish
- Carouge à tête jauneFrench
- Têtejaune d'AmériqueFrench
- Lon ceannbhuíIrish
- שחרורית צהובת-ראשHebrew
- zlatnoglavi vranjakCroatian
- sárgafejű csirögeHungarian
- GullsótiIcelandic
- Ittero testagiallaItalian
- キガシラムクドリモドキJapanese
- geltongalvis trupialasLithuanian
- dzeltengalvas strazdsLatvian
- ChʼagiitsohNavajo
- GeelkoptroepiaalDutch
- gulhovudtrupialNorwegian Nynorsk
- gulhodetrupialNorwegian
- żółtogłowiecPolish
- Kacyk żółtogłowyPolish
- graúna-de-cabeça-amarelaPortuguese
- sargento-de-cabeça-amarelaPortuguese
- Желтоголовый трупиалRussian
- FiskesoaitrupiálaNorthern Sami
- lúčnik žltohlavýSlovak
- rumenoglavi škorčevecSlovenian
- Crna žutoglavkaSerbian
- gulhuvad ängstrupialSwedish
- kärrtrupialSwedish
- Sarı Başlı KaratavukTurkish
- тордо жовтоголовийUkrainian
- 黃頭黑鸝Chinese
- 黄头黑鹂Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the yellow-headed blackbird
Other species in the same family Icteridae.
Red-winged blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus
Bobolink
Dolichonyx oryzivorus
Brown-headed cowbird
Molothrus ater
Baltimore oriole
Icterus galbula
Venezuelan troupial
Icterus icterus
Common grackle
Quiscalus quiscula
CompareYellow-headed blackbird vs Red-winged blackbirdYellow-headed blackbird vs BobolinkYellow-headed blackbird vs Brown-headed cowbirdYellow-headed blackbird vs Baltimore oriole
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the yellow-headed blackbird?
An adult yellow-headed blackbird weighs 49.3 g – 89.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the yellow-headed blackbird endangered?
The yellow-headed blackbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the yellow-headed blackbird live?
The yellow-headed blackbird has a recorded lifespan of 11.7 years.
What kind of animal is the yellow-headed blackbird?
The yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) belongs to the family Icteridae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-headed-blackbird
“Yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-headed-blackbird.
@misc{yellow_headed_blackbird_2026,
title = {Yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/yellow-headed-blackbird},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}