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Common Grackles & European Starlings

Quiscalus quiscula & Sturnus vulgaris

Description:

Common Grackles are large, lanky blackbirds with long legs and long tails. The head is flat and the bill is longer than in most blackbirds, with the hint of a downward curve. Grackles appear black from a distance, but up close their glossy purple heads contrast with bronzy-iridescent bodies. A bright golden eye gives grackles an intent expression. Starlings are chunky and blackbird-sized, but with short tails and long, slender beaks. In flight their wings are short and pointed, making them look rather like small, four-pointed stars (and giving them their name). At a distance, starlings look black. In summer they are purplish-green iridescent with yellow beaks; in fresh winter plumage they are brown, covered in brilliant white spots.

Habitat:

Common Grackles thrive around agricultural fields, feedlots, city parks, and suburban lawns. They’re also common in open habitats including woodland, forest edges, meadows, and marshes. Starlings are common in towns, suburbs, and countryside near human settlements. They feed on the ground on lawns, fields, sidewalks, and parking lots. They perch and roost high on wires, trees, and buildings.

Notes:

Hordes of these birds attacked my neighbor and I's feeders one day.They fought constantly over the suet and made a ruckus.

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3 Comments

ConorSheaWing
ConorSheaWing 10 years ago

I thought the 5th one with the starling stepping on the Grackles face was even more ridiculous.

Caleb Steindel
Caleb Steindel 10 years ago

LOVE PIC 3!

AshleyT
AshleyT 10 years ago

The colors of the Grackles show up great! And the third pic with all the Starling is just ridiculous haha

ConorSheaWing
Spotted by
ConorSheaWing

Brookhaven, Pennsylvania, USA

Spotted on Feb 27, 2013
Submitted on Mar 6, 2013

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