ML614410427
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
- Sounds
- Song
- Playback
- Playback not used
Media notes
Recorded bird with Sony Cassette recorder TCM 59V, transferred to iPhone 6 and then edited with Audacity.
Observation details
Accepted by the California Bird Records Committee after others saw and detailed documentation done for NAB. Bird was found in our backyard near our feeders on Shoshone Dr. Which is near Dixon lane and backs up to huge open expanse of grazed and creek/ditch laden meadows/pastures. : Bird was 20 feet away, view was unobstructed and we watched it for about 5 minutes before it flew away. Luckily the bird returned the next day, Monday Sept. 14, between 7 & 8 am and in another four days on Friday the 18th, staying only 5 minutes again. FIRST IMPRESSION: Adult male Brewer’s blackbird, but look at how blue its head is! PLUMAGE: Large and overall sleek and smooth looking blackbird 1.5x the size of nearby male red-winged blackbird. In general the bird was black, especially if seen in the shade or from a distance but in the bright sunlight and at close range, this bird had very colorful plumage. Head was dark blue with green tint (midnight blue?) and in some views it could be called turquoise because of the highlights in the bright sunlight. The head had a flattened shape above the base of the bill, i.e. very little brow. The blue of the head continued down the dorsal side of the bird beyond the nape onto the upper back where the color abruptly changed into a golden sheen. Debby would describe it as a golden bronze color. The blue continued down through the side of the head, chin and throat area into the upper breast, including the “neck” (place where the head meets the body and seems to become “narrow” in shape). Here there was a sharp line of demarcation from the blue to the golden sheen of the back, breast and belly. This line of color change gave the bird a subtle “blue hooded” look that stood out noticeably in bright lighting conditions. The scapulars also had the same golden sheen. The color changed to fuchsia (the dictionary defines this color as a bright purplish-red color) in the primaries and secondaries. The sides and flanks were also the golden sheen color. Looking at the side of the bird, the wing stood out as a different color (fuchsia) from the head and body. Eyes were yellow with a black iris much like a Brewer’s blackbird. Bill was proportionately large for a blackbird and would have wrapped back just past the back of the head. The bill was black, long, slightly downcurved, generally slender but still goodsized, and came to a sharp point at the tip. Black tail was long with the outer tail feathers significantly shorter than the central tail feathers. From the side, Jim saw that these shorter outer tail feathers appeared to be held in a vertical orientation and to overlap each successively longer tail feather back towards the longest, central tail feathers. From underneath, each side of the tail looked like a steep staircase up from the short outer tail feathers to the long central tail feathers. In other views, looking at the top of the tail and when the tail was being held straight back, it appeared somewhat narrow at the base and narrowing still more in the central part, expanding wider towards the end with a smooth rounded overall curve at the tip. BEHAVIOR: On the first day, during our period of observation, the bird sat atop a large (8-inch diameter) sunflower head and nibbled. At one point, it was able to lean its head down to one edge of the sunflower head while its tail dangled down the other side of the sunflower head. On the following days, it was also feeding on sunflower seeds on the ground. It seems to flush readily at loud noises or movements. In order to photograph it at close range, we had to move very slowly and stay hidden. VOCALIZATIONS: The bird vocalized on the second day. It seemed to eat sunflower seeds and then talk about it. Debby recorded the bird from a range of 20 ft. with a TCM-59V Sony cassette. Enclosed is a copy of this recording for your records. WERE NOTES TAKEN IN THE FIELD WHEN BIRD WAS OBSERVED?: Yes. CONCLUSIONS: Relative to the size of a nearby red-winged blackbird, this bird was too large to be a Brewer’s blackbird or a rusty blackbird. Comparing full adult male Brewer’s blackbirds to this bird, Brewer’s have a dark purple head with a color change to a blackish dark green in the “neck” area that continues throughout the rest of the body. Overall Brewer’s blackbirds are blackish, never showing the bright colors of the bird we’re describing. Brewer’s blackbirds have a shorter tail with the feathers all the same length and cut off fairly straight across the end. The Brewer’s blackbird bill is shorter proportionately, i.e. the bill on a Brewer’s blackbird would only wrap part way back the width of the Brewer’s blackbird head not beyond the head as in this grackle. Also, the bill on the Brewer’s blackbird is more rounded in shape, and not as massive as the grackle. Cowbirds are also smaller, have many thicker, shorter, conical bills and lack the yellow eye this bird possessed. Male great-tailed grackles are double the size of red-winged blackbirds and also lack that golden sheen. Therefore, we have concluded that this was a male common grackle with appearance similar to the center common grackle illustration at the top of page 425 of the NGS guide. COMMENTS: This has been an excellent opportunity to learn the similarities between
Technical information
- Recorder
- Sony Cassette recorder TCM 59V.
- Microphone
- Yes a directional microphone was used.
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 21.4 MB