Long ago, one of the first red-winged blackbirds to exist flew into a land that would one day be the state of Iowa.  His name was Sunset, or Sun for short, because the bright red bands on his wings were the same color as the horizon when the sun set in the evenings.  He was very lonely because there weren’t many red-winged blackbirds yet, and they were scattered across all of North America.  

The red-winged blackbirds were so new they hadn’t been able to decide how they would behave.  This included questions like: How would they eat? How would they find mates? What would their nests look like?  How would they defend themselves? They didn’t even have a song. Since there were so few of them, and they were so far apart, none of this had been decided yet.  

As Sun was flying, he saw a wetland that looked like a nice place to rest.  He flew down and perched on top of a cattail, which sagged gently under his weight.  Sun thought the wetland, with which had tall grass and slow-flowing water as far as he could see, would be a great place to make a home.  The only thing wrong was that he was still lonely. He wished some other red-winged blackbirds would come and live there with him.  

Sun decided he would try to sing to see if any other red-winged blackbirds were nearby, but he didn’t know if he could sing.  Deciding he had nothing to lose by trying, he puffed out his chest and wings so his red bands showed and gave a great big TWEET.  It didn’t sound very musical, but after practicing for a few minutes he came up with a song that sounded something like “conk-a-LEEEE”.  He liked this sound, and he repeated it over and over proudly.  

Sun sang for hours.  Some of the other animals in the wetland paused to watch him curiously before continuing on their way.  None stopped to talk to him. He sang as the sun sank in the sky and the horizon turned as red as the bands on his wings.  He was about to give up and go to bed when another red-winged blackbird finally flew up and perched on a nearby cattail.  

This bird’s name was Night because his feathers were so black.  He had heard Sun’s song and, never having heard anything like it before, had come to investigate.  Both birds were thrilled to find a friend. Night learned Sun’s song quickly, and they spent the whole next day singing it all over the wetland.  By sunset they had found two more red-winged blackbirds. Each day more and more heard their song and came to the wetland until there were over 100 of them.  

This was the most red-winged blackbirds that had ever been together in one place.  It was enough for them to start deciding how they would behave. They all gathered in the biggest tree in the wetland and started the long process, which could take weeks or even months.  The very first thing they did was make Sun’s song their official birdsong. His song had brought them together, and they were all grateful. This is why you can still hear the red-winged blackbirds calling to each other on spring and summer days in Iowa and all over North America.