Hello Tweeties!


I noticed the post about grackles in Ellensburg. In the years since I
left Bakersfield, CA (1992) Great Tailed Grackles have established
themselves in the parks and parking lots around town. I discovered
them in a park north east of town on the Kern River. I heard these
strange noises coming from a tree near where I parked my car. At
first I thought it was a scrub jay or mockingbird, but it was way too
loud. I then thought it was a very loud Brewer's Blackbird. The
sounds became very familiar - I spent the better part of my childhood
in Oklahoma and Illinois. Something large and black flew over my head
and landed in the shade of a nearby tree. It was large and glossy
purple-ish black with an incredible tail. It strutted around making
loud clucking noises and was soon joined by other glossy, flashy black
comrades - all strutting around and occasionally "hop-flying" up to
catch low flying bugs. I stared at these "proud" birds.
"Grackles?" "Grackles in Kern County?" "Great tailed grackles?"

I know they can be serious agricultural pests - just ask any Illinois
farmer, but these great tailed grackles are incredibly beautiful
birds. I wrote to Ted Murphy a zoology instructor at Cal State
Bakersfield and he told me they expanded their range into Kern County
about ten to twelve years ago. I wonder if those flashy cousins of
the Brewer's and Redwing Blackbirds will expand northward. I'd love
to have some of them strutting around my property.


Lydia Gaebe Bishop
Snohomish, WA