Great-tailed Grackle Immature or Molting Adult?
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Jeff Cooper
Oct 5, 2011, 1:23:13 AM10/5/11
to Birdtalk UtahBirds, UBIRD
When I first came across this Grackle in a tree in a parking lot in The Meadows shopping center in American Fork Monday, I wondered if it was an immature Grackle because of the shortness of its tail feathers. I understand Grackles lose some if not all of their long tail feathers at the same time during a molt. I'm leaning toward this being a molting adult now, but am interested in hearing other thoughts regarding age from those who know Grackles well.
Here are a couple of photos for reference:
One of the first Great-tailed Grackles I saw in Utah was in a Walmart parking lot in Springville. Yes, this bird was in a tree in a lot adjacent to a Walmart. Walmart is a store for opportunistic people (every day low prices, right), why not an opportunistic bird?
Regards,
Jeff
Mark Stackhouse
Oct 5, 2011, 5:20:20 AM10/5/11
to jeffc...@gmail.com, UBird
Hola Jeff,
Assuming that the birds there are on roughly the same breeding schedule as here, your bird looks like a molting adult male. There are still a few "teenagers" begging from their parents here, though the numbers of still-dependent juveniles has dropped significantly in the last few weeks. The juvenile males are still mostly brown, with maybe 30-40% of the plumage being black on the most advanced individuals. Most of our birds are still tailless, rather similar to the bird in your photo.
Hope that helps,
Mark
Mark Stackhouse
from Mexico:
01-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit)
001-801-518-5618 (cellular - U.S. and Mexico)
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Robert Mortensen
Oct 5, 2011, 6:59:46 AM10/5/11
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My first Great-tailed Grackle in Idaho was a Walmart parking lot. Turns out several of the Idaho records were in Walmart parking lots, especially those with a McDonald's. They have a penchant for french fries discarded on the asphalt. I saw the same thing when living in AZ where they are abundant.
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Tim Avery
Oct 5, 2011, 9:40:02 AM10/5/11
to jeffc...@gmail.com, UBIRD
saw 2 that were in the middle of molting yesterday in Provo. Those short-tailed/tail-less grackles sure are ironic given the name of the species!
Good Birding
Tim
On Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 11:23 PM, Jeff Cooper <jeffc...@gmail.com> wrote:
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