Sunday, March 23, 2008

One noisy bird

There's a large tree in our neighbor's yard and birds of all kinds (as well as the occasional hunting cat) inhabit it from season to season. This morning it was one of my favorites - a Texas grackle. They are raucous but the variety of calls they make is amazing. I think they are even more vocal than our mockingbirds, though the mockingbirds are usually more gentle in their vocalizations.

I sat outside and listened to the grackle this morning and wished I could have put some of his calls on this blog for you all to hear. At several points, there were sounds that appeared to be from him flapping his wings. SWMBO says he must be courting.

You can read more about grackles
here.

10 comments:

  1. Never heard of that bird before Mr Cat - it's rather striking isn't it?

    Hope you and yours are having a good Easter weekend. x

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  2. Well, Miss Kitty, we're a long way from Texas but you're even further. Yes, a quiet weekend, except for the grackle.

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  3. The grackle is indeed a striking looking bird! I must go off & read about him.

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  4. Actually, I'm not sure the one pictured is a Texas grackle. The ones I've seen don't have the blue on them. They're mainly a greenish-black color but with that striking golden-rimmed eye. And a very loud voice.

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  5. Even though there is a lot of snow still on the ground here, the birds are acting like it is early summer. It's nice to hear it.

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  6. Birds seem to operate on an internal time clock that has nothing to do with the weather.

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  7. When I was young I built a bird house and a pair of grackles moved in for several years. Charming birds.

    Grackles are fun!
    Grackles are cool!
    Grackle Stew
    make me drool!

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  8. That's a really handsome bird. I'd heard about them but didn't think they'd be much to look at.
    Actually, before I started blogging I never knew there were such things as grackles, they seem to feature quite a bit... who says this stuff isn't educational?

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  9. See Lucy, if you'd just drop everything else in your life and spend all your time in front of your computer, how smart you'd be?

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