"It's not a Boat-Tailed," writes Tom Fiore and another PS
Boat-Tailed Grackle at The Harlem Meer - 4/9/11Photo by JANE F. ROSS
Common Grackle in Central Park - 4/18/11Photo by MURRAY HEAD
Tom Fiore writes:
Marie,
In looking at the photos by Murray Head that you added to your latest nature notes blog entry, this is not a Boat-tailed, but a male Common Grackle. Several things are visible from the photos (yes, that one shows attitude but as we also know, many members of the icteridae [blackbird family] show aggressive posturing and behavior at times - see your nearest male Red-winged Blackbird around a nest-site, for proof of that and try wearing a red scarf over a black shirt if you want even more of a reaction!) - in the middle photo, especially, it is clear that there is a strong demarcation in plumage color from the head, to the back, and also that the iridescent colors on the back are, to borrow from David Sibley's full-sized field guide, "variegated, multicolored" which may be more apparent if the photo is made a bit larger on one's computer monitor screen; the bill is not quite heavy as would be on a Boat-tailed Grackle, nor is the tail long enough in relative view compared with the overall body length as seen in all 3 of the photos by Murray Head. Going back to Jane Ross's photos of the male Boat-tailed Grackle at the Meer on April 9th, one can see in her photos that the tail is proportionately much longer relative to the entire bird, the bill is a bit heavier, and the iridescent color of the back merges closely with the head color as well as being of a more evenly bluish-green. There well could be more Boat-tailed Grackles that will appear in Central Park (or have already) and it is a species which could escape detection at times, as not all, even amongst a park so thoroughly observed by naturalists, will take notice of every grackle they come across there. For now, I believe Jane Ross's photos represent the first and (so far) only fully-documented occurrence of Boat-tailed Grackle for Central Park. Incidentally, on the subject of (larger) grackles, a species to keep in mind is Great-tailed Grackle which has the potential to stray as far as NY. That species has spread greatly over the last century and is still doing so to some extent. A male Great-tailed Grackle at a length about half-again larger than a Common Grackle would be rather apparent in a first look. Great-tailed females and perhaps males also could be visually mistaken for Boat-tailed Grackle.
On the migration front, a fair number of arrivals these past few days and today, Wed. 4/20, there are so far at least a few "new" as well as lingering migrants - this is sent well before a better tally of the day's sightings is apparent. There are migrant birds in much of the park and all over our region now... I just spent 2 hours at Summit Rock, and found no reason to leave that spot - now to see what other areas may offer in bird-life. As I wrote to the NYS bird list, the female Varied Thrush and Red-headed Woodpecker (now with bright red hood) both continue in their respective areas, the thrush south of the Met.; woodpecker south of Sheep Meadow.
Best,
Tom
In looking at the photos by Murray Head that you added to your latest nature notes blog entry, this is not a Boat-tailed, but a male Common Grackle. Several things are visible from the photos (yes, that one shows attitude but as we also know, many members of the icteridae [blackbird family] show aggressive posturing and behavior at times - see your nearest male Red-winged Blackbird around a nest-site, for proof of that and try wearing a red scarf over a black shirt if you want even more of a reaction!) - in the middle photo, especially, it is clear that there is a strong demarcation in plumage color from the head, to the back, and also that the iridescent colors on the back are, to borrow from David Sibley's full-sized field guide, "variegated, multicolored" which may be more apparent if the photo is made a bit larger on one's computer monitor screen; the bill is not quite heavy as would be on a Boat-tailed Grackle, nor is the tail long enough in relative view compared with the overall body length as seen in all 3 of the photos by Murray Head. Going back to Jane Ross's photos of the male Boat-tailed Grackle at the Meer on April 9th, one can see in her photos that the tail is proportionately much longer relative to the entire bird, the bill is a bit heavier, and the iridescent color of the back merges closely with the head color as well as being of a more evenly bluish-green. There well could be more Boat-tailed Grackles that will appear in Central Park (or have already) and it is a species which could escape detection at times, as not all, even amongst a park so thoroughly observed by naturalists, will take notice of every grackle they come across there. For now, I believe Jane Ross's photos represent the first and (so far) only fully-documented occurrence of Boat-tailed Grackle for Central Park. Incidentally, on the subject of (larger) grackles, a species to keep in mind is Great-tailed Grackle which has the potential to stray as far as NY. That species has spread greatly over the last century and is still doing so to some extent. A male Great-tailed Grackle at a length about half-again larger than a Common Grackle would be rather apparent in a first look. Great-tailed females and perhaps males also could be visually mistaken for Boat-tailed Grackle.
On the migration front, a fair number of arrivals these past few days and today, Wed. 4/20, there are so far at least a few "new" as well as lingering migrants - this is sent well before a better tally of the day's sightings is apparent. There are migrant birds in much of the park and all over our region now... I just spent 2 hours at Summit Rock, and found no reason to leave that spot - now to see what other areas may offer in bird-life. As I wrote to the NYS bird list, the female Varied Thrush and Red-headed Woodpecker (now with bright red hood) both continue in their respective areas, the thrush south of the Met.; woodpecker south of Sheep Meadow.
Best,
Tom
PS from Marie: Today, Tomorrow and Friday I'll be answering questions about Red-tailed Hawks in the city on the New York Times blog http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/.
posted by Marie Winn @ 4/20/2011 11:09:00 AM
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