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| Read more about the common grackle. |
In the summertime the bronzed grackle, a large, iridescent bird, can often be seen strutting about on the grass or wading along the edges of streams or lakes.
The bronzed, grackle is common throughout the farmlands of eastern United States.
Under normal conditions this bird would be found in the forests near ponds or marshes, but man has provided such a bountiful supply of food for the crow blackbirds that they are now common throughout the farmlands of eastern United States.
There are three varieties of grackle in the United States: the purple grackle is found in the Middle Atlantic Coast region, west to the Alleghenies; the Florida grackle occurs along the South Atlantic and the Gulf Coast; while the bronzed grackle inhabits central and northeastern United States.
Bronzed grackles feed on a variety of food, animal and vegetable, depending on the season and what is available. During the warm weather, they may be seen in company with robins and flickers stalking across the lawn picking up insects, boring for grubs, hunting for scattered seeds and berries. They wade into shallow streams after insects, small fish, and crayfish. On occasion, individuals will attempt to catch insects on the wing .
As destroyers of insects and weed seeds these birds have good records. About one-third of their food is made up of harmful insects. They also destroy mice, frogs, snakes, small birds, and birds 5 eggs. Even the English sparrow is no match for the bronzed grackle, which often catches a live English sparrow and proceeds to kill and eat its victim. Unfortunately, our native song birds may also be caught, and when a pair of grackles nest in a tree, the more desirable birds will leave the neighborhood, actually fleeing for their lives.
But the habit of attacking the corn crop makes these birds a serious pest, particularly because they arrive in large flocks. They had already acquired a bad reputation with the Native Americans before the white man came because of their attacks on the maize patches. Early in the spring their taste for grain attracts them to the farmer's corncrib and to the barnyard. As soon as plowing begins, they follow along in the furrows picking up grubs, and at planting time the grackles, accompanied by crows and blackbirds, pull up the sprouting grain. At harvest time immense flocks will rip open the ears of corn while the kernels are soft and juicy; they often ruin an entire field in this way.
Early in July when the young are able to care for themselves, the grackles gather in flocks that contain thousands of individual birds. It is these assemblages that cause so much damage to cornfields and orchards.
The only cure seems to be to shoot the birds when they become too numerous to be beneficial. But grackles are wary and recognize a man with a gun as an enemy. Pabst.
The bronzed, grackle is common throughout the farmlands of eastern United States.
Under normal conditions this bird would be found in the forests near ponds or marshes, but man has provided such a bountiful supply of food for the crow blackbirds that they are now common throughout the farmlands of eastern United States.
There are three varieties of grackle in the United States: the purple grackle is found in the Middle Atlantic Coast region, west to the Alleghenies; the Florida grackle occurs along the South Atlantic and the Gulf Coast; while the bronzed grackle inhabits central and northeastern United States.
Bronzed grackles feed on a variety of food, animal and vegetable, depending on the season and what is available. During the warm weather, they may be seen in company with robins and flickers stalking across the lawn picking up insects, boring for grubs, hunting for scattered seeds and berries. They wade into shallow streams after insects, small fish, and crayfish. On occasion, individuals will attempt to catch insects on the wing .
As destroyers of insects and weed seeds these birds have good records. About one-third of their food is made up of harmful insects. They also destroy mice, frogs, snakes, small birds, and birds 5 eggs. Even the English sparrow is no match for the bronzed grackle, which often catches a live English sparrow and proceeds to kill and eat its victim. Unfortunately, our native song birds may also be caught, and when a pair of grackles nest in a tree, the more desirable birds will leave the neighborhood, actually fleeing for their lives.
But the habit of attacking the corn crop makes these birds a serious pest, particularly because they arrive in large flocks. They had already acquired a bad reputation with the Native Americans before the white man came because of their attacks on the maize patches. Early in the spring their taste for grain attracts them to the farmer's corncrib and to the barnyard. As soon as plowing begins, they follow along in the furrows picking up grubs, and at planting time the grackles, accompanied by crows and blackbirds, pull up the sprouting grain. At harvest time immense flocks will rip open the ears of corn while the kernels are soft and juicy; they often ruin an entire field in this way.
Early in July when the young are able to care for themselves, the grackles gather in flocks that contain thousands of individual birds. It is these assemblages that cause so much damage to cornfields and orchards.
The only cure seems to be to shoot the birds when they become too numerous to be beneficial. But grackles are wary and recognize a man with a gun as an enemy. Pabst.
David Fullmer shares his video
of a Bronze Grackle at Pond.
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