Grackles and blackbirds

[finnbay]

Incredible beauty with these birds when you get a chance to really see them. Has to be a common grackle, but the guide suggests it could be one of two black birds - Brewer's or Rusty. My guess is the Rusty.

[Steve Foss]

You're right, Ken, rusty blackbirds they are. Must have been a wave of them stopped by the storm, as I've got four and twenty blackbirds in my yard today as well. Yours look like immatures or females. The males in non-breeding plumage look that way, too, but late April would be too late for that plumage, generally, and some of my birds are glossy black males. Do you have any of the black ones at your place, too?

[finnbay]

Yes I do Steve, but had a tough time getting a good exposure of them against the snow. Are they just passing through?

[Steve Foss]

Rusty blackbirds generally nest north of here. Brewer's nest here when they can find the right habitat. If you see a glossy, iridescent, solid black blackbird (not a grackle) here around Ely in summer, it's probably a Brewer's. Rustys nest in wooded swamps, but Sibley indicates they nest north of the International border (could be some down here, though, never know), while Brewer's is more comfortable in open or semi-open ag lands or suburban locations.

[jonny_redhorse]

All nice Ken!..never knew what a rusty blackbird was till this week....love the coloration on these birds!

[Dbl]

Beautiful shots Ken! The colors really shine through.

[daveyred]

After looking at all these pitures, the ones in several books, Cornell's site and a few other websites I am not sure. I want to say the are Common Grackles by the looks and I think what makes me think that is the size of the bill on the grackle is so much bigger than the Rusty. I almost want to say male Grackles and female Rusty's. To make the call I would want to know how many of these birds were seen together and in what environment. The Rusty is not found in large flocks and the Grackle is and the Rusty is more of a swamp, wetland forrest bird than the Grackle.

I love the iridescence either way and I am still leaning to Grackle but this is a hard call either way.