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What's a bird to do when the weather turns cool and fall foliage begins to drop? For many species of birds, the answer is to migrate south for the winter!
I was at work one cool, gray morning when I heard a harsh chirping outside the window. I saw a few dozen black birds hopping around and foraging in the grass under the oak trees outside the office. Moments later, that number doubled! At first glance, they looked like a species similar to the Brewer's blackbird (which I later discovered does not reach N.Y.). Some Internet research led me to discover they are common grackles.
The Grackle
This bird, a member of the same family as the blackbird, has a shiny green or purple head and yellow eyes. As I discovered by watching out my window, grackles eat just about anything – many of them were foraging for acorns and sifting through fallen pine needles for whatever they could find.
Grackles can be found just about anywhere in the U.S., with the exception of the west coast. They are noisy chatterers and tend to travel in large groups. Colonies of grackles may contain as many as 10 to 100 pairs.
Migration
These noisy birds are considered pests for more reasons than their considerable volume. Grackles eat just about anything, but love grains and seeds – especially corn. The large colony size can put a considerable dent in a crop in a small amount of time. They are also aggressive toward other birds.
While some grackles do not migrate, others spend warm winters in the southeastern U.S.
Protected Pests?
Grackles are not a protected species, but they are in decline. In the past 40 years, their numbers have decreased by 61%. There are about 73 million grackles throughout the world today compared to 190 million 40 years ago. That's a lot of grackles!
Many bird watchers try to deter grackles from their feeders because they bully other more desired birds away. Some tips for keeping grackles away from feeders include:
- Don't give them a landing space/perch
- Feed thistle seed or sunflower hearts
- Don't feed suet
Why might we want to keep an eye on the grackle population? Despite the fact that they eat everything in sight and bother other birds, grackles have a few positive points. Mainly, they eat lots of insects including grubs, ants, beetles, and caterpillars. Think of it as free and green lawn protection! In most cases, grackles are just pests that are passing through for a few days.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Grackle
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Grackle/id
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/comgra/
http://www.audubon.org/bird/stateofthebirds/cbid/profile.php?id=14
https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxxsvLQ2Kos
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Re: The Cackling Grackle Migration
