The Yellow-headed Blackbird breeds in colonies. In the winter, the males congregate together and the females and juveniles flocking together. It feeds by foraging on the ground near water or in fields eating snails, larvae, grains, seeds and insects.

The range of the Yellow-headed Blackbird stretches from the Great Lakes, west across the plains of North America, into the mountains and south across the American Southwest, into parts of California. Most overwinter in Mexico.