Not My Grackles!

On a recent trip, I immersed myself in a lunch of seafood nachos on a restaurant balcony overlooking the harbor in Punta Gorda, FL. I was dining alone but enjoying watching a school of fish surging around and birds flitting about.

Lunch with a Grackle 

While I was dining, several grackles visited, hanging out on the railing, not too close. Even though they look very similar, I realized these aren’t the grackles I know in Tucson. They were very polite, waiting until the humans had finished their meals and left. Then, they swooped in to help clean up any debris left behind. Males and females were equally forward. The sexes are easily identifiable. The males have glossy, iridescent black feathers. Very attractive.

Boat-tailed Grackle

Like most birds, the female grackles are smaller and dull brown. However, I still like their looks.

Observing these entertaining avians, I knew they were not the same grackle species I had back home in the Sonoran Desert. My desert species is the Great-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus. My dining companions were Boat-tailed Grackles, Quiscalus major. Great-tailed are found in the central area of the Americas, ranging from South to North America. Boat-tailed are only found along the coast.

Great-tailed Grackle

Not surprisingly, these human-adapted birds are providing value to the environment. Omnivores help with pest control by consuming annoying insects like mosquitoes, flies, and ants. Most importantly, they disperse seeds in their droppings, assisting plants.

Know the bottle! Fear the bottle!

Members of the restaurant staff should have appreciated these services more. The waitress didn’t like the avian invaders. When shooing off the grackles didn’t work, she brought out ‘the bottle.’ The intelligent, wary birds know her and the danger of the bottle. They all fled the dining area when she aimed the nozzle in their direction. Then, the waitress threatened them by placing the bottle on the railing where they had been lurking. 

I didn’t think this was fair. I invited the grackles to my table, but the bottle was too close. In addition, they didn’t know me, so they didn’t realize they could trust me. I wanted to take some photos, but they didn’t cooperate. So, I made memories instead. They are such beautiful birds and so unappreciated. We appreciate all birds at Lyric Power Publishing, take a peek at some of our bird books.