Oregon blackbirds attack gopher snakes but avoid rattlesnake models, study finds

A red-winged blackbird defends its nest. FILE PIC/ISTOCK

A study in Behavioral Ecology found that red-winged blackbirds in western Oregon hesitate to physically attack rattlesnakes, despite aggressively defending their nests against other predators.

When researchers placed realistic predator models near nests, blackbirds struck nonvenomous gopher snakes over 80 times but hit a rattlesnake model only once.

Because rattlesnakes were largely eradicated from western Oregon in the 1800s, modern blackbirds have virtually no experience with them, but retain a distinct caution toward vipers.

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