Quiscalus major

I photographed this Boat-tailed Grackle earlier this week out at Brazoria NWR. It definitely looked like spring is around the corner with the male grackles displaying, calling and chasing each other around. These grackles have to be some of my favorite birds, I love their calls and their beautiful lines and brilliant iridescence. It was such a pleasure to just sit and watch them on a beautiful sunny morning. This recent experience seemed to be quite a contrast to a segment I heard on the radio this afternoon. On a local radio show called Houston Matters there was a playful report investigating “what’s up with the birds?” The piece set out to investigate what was attracting flocks of birds around town and in particular called out grackles as being pests. There was mention of how they poop on produce and cars potentially damaging them and the story even ended with an interview with a man who uses hawks and falcons to frighten unwanted birds from their roosts around various businesses. Throughout the segment there were recordings of grackles and other birds singing at their roost sites which I found to be a beautiful sound to say the least. These flocks of birds are one of the things I love most about living in Houston. We Houstonians certainly are blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy these feathered friends, I hope we can all work together to makes sure they are around for generations to come.

Here is a link to the story for those who are interested
www.houstonmatters.org/segments/segment-e/2016/02/18/the-...

www.texastargetbirds.com

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