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Answer 3 |
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Photo #3 “Difficult” An all black bird again, but this one seems considerably bigger, with a longer and quite thick bill. Maybe we have a crow or raven this time? But it doesn't look quite right- the bird seems a little too slender overall, the bill is thick, but not thick enough, and even with this back-lit photo the eye looks pale on this bird. But this can't be a Brewer's Blackbird looking that bulky, and with that big bill. Grackles also have pale eyes, but they have long, distinctively shaped tails-- that is unless they lose them. The date on this photo is within the molting period for icterids, and all the blackbirds and their relatives (including the grackles) will sometimes lose all their tail feathers at once in their fall molt. This is a grackle that has molted its entire tail, and is just starting to grow a new set of tail feathers. The last question is what kind of grackle. Common Grackles are very rare in California, but possible, though I'm not sure that one in this stage of molt would be migrating. The bill on this bird seems relatively long for Common Grackle, and the plumage seems too uniform-- Common Grackles of the form that has occurred in California have a more two-toned look, with a bluish-glossed head and a mostly bronzy body. Also, though it may not be obvious in the photo, this bird in the field seemed a little too large for a Common Grackle. This is instead a Great-tailed Grackle, a species that is increasing in California, and in recent years has become well established around the wetlands in the Pajaro Valley area of Santa Cruz County. This male Great-tailed Grackle was at Struve Slough on September 20. .
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