Common Grackle

Here's another Common Grackle. The North American grackles tend to have non-prestigious names:

So what is a grackle anyway? It sounds like grackle is Latin for jackdaw. So what's a jackdaw? They are smaller relatives of crows/ravens. But while jackdaws are close relatives of crows, our grackles are not; our grackles are instead New World blackbirds. It's easy for me to think that, grackles being dark-feathered, they got their name because people thought they, like jackdaws, were basically little crows. (Note that the dark blue sheen of the head can look black in poor light, increasing their crow-like appearance.)

July 4, 2023 at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary
Photo 301260618, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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