Tawny-shouldered Blackbird

The tawny-shouldered blackbird is 19 to 22 cm (7.5 to 8.7 in) long. Males weigh an average of 38.3 g (1.4 oz) and females an average of 34.5 g (1.2 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies are mostly black with a slight bluish gloss. Their lesser and median upperwing coverts are tawny and the median coverts have yellowish cream tips. Adult females are duskier than males and lack the bluish gloss. They have a smaller amount of tawny on the coverts and the median coverts are partly black. Both sexes have a dark brown iris, a black bill, and black legs and feet. Juveniles are dusky black with minimal or no tawny on their wing. Subspecies A. h. scopulus is smaller than the nominate with a smaller tawny patch and a thinner bill.

According to most sources the nominate subspecies of the tawny-shouldered blackbird is found throughout mainland Cuba, on some small Cuban islands, and in Haiti. The IUCN's text places it also in the Dominican Republic but does not include that country in its map. The sources place subspecies A. h. scopulus on Cayo Cantiles, a small Cuban island east of Isla de la Juventud ("Isle of Pines"). The species has also been recorded in the Florida Keys and at least once in mainland Florida. The tawny-shouldered blackbird inhabits a variety of open habitats including woodlands and their edges, rice fields and other agricultural areas, swampy areas, and scrublands. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 900 m (3,000 ft).

The tawny-shouldered blackbird feeds mostly on insects, other arthropods, small lizards, and seeds, and also includes fruit and nectar in its diet. It forages in trees, lower vegetation, and on the ground. It forms large flocks and that often include other icterids.