F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.
Common Grackle
Why do golfers wear two pairs of pants?
In case they get a hole in one!
Interesting Fact: Grackles have a hard keel on the inside of the upper mandible that they use for sawing open acorns. Typically they score the outside of the narrow end, then bite the acorn open. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Grackle/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/80, ISO 500.
Brown-headed Cowbird
I’ve just opened a new restaurant called Karma.
There’s no menu, we just give you what you deserve.
Interesting Fact: The Brown-headed Cowbird is North America’s most common “brood parasite.” A female cowbird makes no nest of her own, but instead lays her eggs in the nests of other bird species, who then raise the young cowbirds. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird )
F/6.3, 1/100, ISO 320.
Brown-headed Cowbird
What did the stamp say to the envelope?
Stick with me and we will go places!
Interesting Fact: Brown-headed Cowbird lay eggs in the nests of more than 220 species of birds. Recent genetic analyses have shown that most individual females specialize on one particular host species. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird/ )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.
Red-winged Blackbird
What is the color of the wind?
Blew.
Interesting Fact: Different populations and subspecies of Red-winged Blackbirds vary markedly in size and proportions. An experiment was conducted that moved nestlings between populations and found that the chicks grew up to resemble their foster parents. This study indicated that much of the difference seen between populations is the result of different environments rather than different genetic makeups. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/lifehistory )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.
Common Grackle
Tom is sitting on the ice all day fishing with no luck, not even a nibble. Cold and tired he is about to leave, when a guy walks up cuts a hole in the ice beside him, and starts pulling out fish as fast a he can drop his hook in the water. Tom cant believe it, he yells over ” whats your secret?” “woogatkakeptewrwm” he answers back. “what did you say?” replies Tom. The man spits a large ball of worms on the ice and says to Tom, ” you have to keep your worms warm”.
Interesting Fact: Those raggedy figures out in cornfields may be called scare-crows, but grackles are the #1 threat to corn. They eat ripening corn as well as corn sprouts, and their habit of foraging in big flocks means they have a multimillion dollar impact. Some people have tried to reduce their effects by spraying a foul-tasting chemical on corn sprouts or by culling grackles at their roosts. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Grackle/lifehistory )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 200.
Great-tailed Grackle
Why did Frosty the snowman want a divorce?
Because he thought his wife was a flake
Interesting Fact: In winter, enormous flocks of both male and female Great-tailed Grackles gather in “roost trees.” These winter roosts can contain thousands of individuals, with flocks of up to half a million occurring in sugarcane fields in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great-tailed_Grackle/overview )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 320.
Red-winged Blackbird
Which runs faster, hot or cold?
Hot. Everyone can catch cold.
One California subspecies of the Red-winged Blackbird lacks the yellow borders to the red shoulders (epaulets) and has been dubbed the “bicolored blackbird.” Some scientists think this plumage difference may help Red-winged Blackbirds recognize each other where their range overlaps with the similar Tricolored Blackbird. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/320, ISO 320
Brown-headed Cowbird
What did the traffic light say to the car?
Don’t look, I’m changing.
Interesting Fact: Cowbird eggs hatch faster than other species eggs, giving cowbird nestlings a head start in getting food from the parents. Young cowbirds also develop at a faster pace than their nest mates, and they sometimes toss out eggs and young nestlings or smother them in the bottom of the nest. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird/lifehistory )
F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 320.
What does a crying ghost say?
Boo-Hoo
Interesting Fact: Females build the nests by winding stringy plant material around several close, upright stems and weaving in a platform of coarse, wet vegetation. Around and over this she adds more wet leaves and decayed wood, plastering the inside with mud to make a cup. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/lifehistory )
Through Open Lens 