Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Fall approaches, and elder grackles shed their plumes and their young

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Tuesday, September 5, 2000

Fall approaches, and elder grackles shed their plumes and their young
Handsome birds hurry to move their offspring out of the nest and into the wild

As the great-tailed grackles make their daily round of the neighborhood, they leave autumn calling cards like seasonal advertising leaflets carried by messengers from house to house. A long, black, tail feather is planted in a yard, and a few minutes later, several yards down, a different bird sheds a feather. Sometimes the feathers stand upright, quill end planted in the dirt. Others are laid gently on the grass.
   The feather distribution, which normally happens in September, is about a month early this year, as are other bird exercises. The reason everything is hurried up is probably the drought and the extreme heat. Nesting is over, and so is the press to feed the young and build up their strength so that they can leave the nest and fend for themselves.
   Sure, the gangly young are still dogging their elder's steps begging for handouts, but most of them have caught on to the catch-and-eat techniques. They chat and squawk a lot. For the most part, their legs are long, their wings are strong, their motto already, "grackles are omnivorous."
   Ego problems
   Elders of both sexes are now going through a molting stage, except grackles do it their way, not losing all their flight feathers at once, as do waterfowl. Land birds must be able to fly away from pouncing predators at all times. By the time northers begin, both sexes will have grown a sleek new outfit.
   Male grackles, on losing their tail feathers, are greatly altered. They have a comical, tailless appearance. With their magnificent self-images, however, they don't realize they are not as handsome and superior as always. Maybe it just feels like a burr haircut to them. How dissimilar are cardinals that seem to hide themselves away to keep from being seen during molt.
   Great-tailed grackles are boisterous, handsome birds. Glossy black males are streaked with iridescent purple highlights, their long, thin bills are black, and their long, heavy, tails keel-shaped. The smaller, trimmer females have charcoal-colored bodies and lighter, buffy brown heads. Both sexes have intensely yellow eyes. They travel in flocks that disperse for feeding, into smaller family groups. Considered by many to be a nuisance, grackles put on a show worth watching. Declaiming as they scold and brag, the males use their theatrical voices to full advantage, always seeming to play to the top gallery.
   Passionate birds
   Courtship of great-tailed grackles is a scripted scenario with elaborate stage directions. The players are all male. Each bird poses, exhibiting every facet of his macho beauty. They stand together, and move together, raising pointed bills skyward in a visual duet of grace and symmetry. Sometimes they have an audience of seemingly indifferent ladies, and other times the ladies move away without being missed by the boys on their ego trip.
   At all times, great-tailed grackles are outspoken in their appreciation of water. They love the muddy puddles in the street where the hose has been left in one place too long. They are enchanted when they find a sprinkler gently throwing water, and are not above splashing about in a common bird bath. We should not begrudge them this pleasure.

Tonight at 7 p.m. at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, the Coastal Bend Audubon Society will have its first meeting of the season. The program on bird rehabilitation will be given by Michel Setter of the Texas State Aquarium. The public is welcome.


Phyllis Yochem, a Corpus Christi resident, has studied birds of Texas since 1960.

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