Before going any further, I should state that bird ID
should not hinge on majority opinion (and most records
committees don't operate that way). Most opinions were
based on the photographs not _in situ_ observations. In
other words, this is an evaluation of the photographic
evidence for the bird not necessarily the bird itself
which is often the case with bird records.

The following is a breakdown of opinions. "This or that"
opinions were given a .5 score

Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Rusty Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 8.5
Great-tailed Grackle 4
Brewer's x Gr-t 4.5
Brewer's x Common 1
unsp. hybrid 1

not a g-t grackle; no other comment 2

The majority felt that the bird was generally not large enough
to be a Great-tailed and most who excluded Great-tailed were
quite emphatic. Many expressed concern that, if this is a
Common Grackle, it is not one in a previously described plumage.
Structurally the bird falls into the ballpark for Common Grackle
with a molting tail, but color characters are certainly atypical
for Common Grackle. The hybrid camp favors BR x GT over BR x CG.

I am inclined to go with the hybrid crowd and favor BR x GT. Given
the recent range expansion of Great-tailed Grackle, hybrids with
Brewer's seem likely. Common Grackle is still a rare enough
vagrant that hybrids would be less frequent.

Ruth Sullivan's photos are now permenantly placed at:
http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/landbirdphotos.html

I will leave my temporary page with a link to additional
photos up for about a week at:
http://home.pacifier.com/~neawanna/temp/blackbird.html

--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
celata at pacifier.com

A child who becomes acquainted with the birds about him
hears every sound and puzzles out its meaning with a cleverness
that amazes those with ears who hear not.

-Neltje Blanchan

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html