These guys are iconic marsh birds. Throughout the end of winter and through early fall, you hear the males singing their loud songs, to both define their territories and attract mates.
These ducks overwinter in the meadowlands, where they spend time in the deeper waters of the marsh and dive to hunt for food. During their breeding season, the beaks of the males turn blue. Here they tend to migrate northward to their breeding ranges when that happens, so seeing them with blue beaks is a rare treat in early spring.
these are another winter duck that searches for food by diving. the males of these ducks have a striking large white patch on their head, and the females are mostly brown with a small white patch on the side of their face. their fun name is derived from the word "buffalo" because they have a large puffy head.
These birds used to be rare in the meadowlands, but now they are easy to find every summer. They are mostly active in the evening, hence night heron, but you can still find them around in the day time. They are often seen at the edges of reed beds hunting for fish
These birds of prey are endangered in the state of New Jersey; the preserved lands in the meadowlands provide critical habitat for them to breed and raise offspring, as they nest and hunt in marshes and grasslands. They can be seen flying low over the ground as they seek out small animals.
Experimental studies have been performed by painting the red patches on a male Red winged Blackbird black. When these patches were covered, they were unable to defend their territory and attract mates, despite their singing being unaffected