ML236497961

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Two of the three Grackles were together - the third was removed but in the same field zone as the other two and appeared typical for Common Grackle. The pair, however, both seemed to exhibit longer tails than typical Common Grackle - causing me to suspect possible Great-tailed Grackle (simply on the basis of longer than normal tail length: I was not familiar with other Grackle species apart from knowing that they existed and had longer tails). The length of the tail was a prominent feature that caught my attention right away. Both birds tended to raise their feathers high in a manner that accentuated the tail as well. I don’t know if that behavior could have been attributed to subspecies distinctiveness, or wet field posture modification, or perhaps a courtship behavior since they followed eachother around fairly closely. After sharing pics and Video with Rick Brigham and Caleb Putnam, it appears they are probably just Common Grackles with longer than typical tails. Another question that presented itself to me pertained to body plumage. While it was evening light on a fully overcast day, the body plumage in the video I took didn’t seem like the bronze of typical Common Grackle but seemed to exhibit a uniform somewhat greenish hue. This seemed to show up better in the video when the birds changedbposition in the light than shows up in the still pictures captured from video. I would have never thought I’d spend so much time on a couple of Grackles.

Technical information

Original file size

2.03 MB