![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/common-grackle-1431-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"common-grackle-1431-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nNot everyone’s favorite bird but I’m a fan.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Eight days ago this male Common Grackle was threatening another male, out of frame to the left, with their trademark Bill Up Display. This photo didn’t catch him with his bill pointing almost straight up, like it often was, but I like this photo better than the others I took of him. With him perched on matted phrags with a pond in the background the setting appeals to me, I got a nice exposure on his near-blacks in the early morning light, the unusual keel-shaped grackle tail is clearly evident, he’s sharp and I like the reflections on the water in the upper background.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In recent years there’s been a rapid increase in the population of Common Grackles with some negative consequences. They’ve become a significant agricultural pest and they’ve developed an unsavory reputation for raiding the nests of other birds and even killing the occasional adult bird. For those and other reasons, lots of folks don’t like grackles.<\/p>\n We never used to see grackles in Utah but within the last 50 years or so they’ve invaded the West, aided in part by the increased planting of shelterbelts which provided more suitable habitat for them. In the last few years they’ve reached the Salt Lake Valley, which is just about at the edge of their current western range.<\/p>\n Makes me wonder how far west they’ll eventually spread. Our extended drought might have something to say about that.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not everyone’s favorite bird but I’m a fan.<\/p>\n