Great-tailed Grackle
"Where’s my winter coat?"
I
am so glad fall is on its way, and that night temperatures are dropping
into the cool range. It’s been a long, hot summer for me. And it’s been
a long hot summer for our feathered friends. After a really hot summer,
the Great-tailed Grackle comes to the end of its molt or feather
changing period. When a bird molts, it sheds the old worn 
feathers and replaces
them with new ones. The Great-tailed Grackle is normally a handsome
bird, but now it is far from handsome. It is soooo scraggly! Scraggly
is the best word to describe today’s Grackle. Scraggly, like a worn out
coat, tattered pants, shoes with holes in the toes or bottoms, gloves
with holes in the fingers... all done in feathers.
Scraggly: My honey remembers looking that way as a kid, when he dressed in his best hand-me-downs. Those were the days when new school clothes were inherited from your older cousins or brothers and even family friends.
Two or three weeks from now Grackles will not be scraggly, they will put on their best courtly apparel; shinny, sleek, and colorful... to present themselves regally to the whole world. As fall breezes change their feathery plumage, their new winter coat becomes more luxurious and brilliant. Most people think of Grackles as the parking lot birds, with the loud whistle. I like to think of them as magnificent, all dressed up for a formal dance. Today, looking at one of my favorite birds, in such a tattered condition, I thought "where are my winter coats"? It’s time to open the closets, check the storage bags, and not wait for the icy winds of winter to strike. Take a lesson from the birds, prepare now, look your best.
Thank you
Brenda Rusnell for giving us the Great-tailed Grackle picture. If you
have stories about this Grackle, just want to talk about birds, or if
you want to come along on another Red Cliffs Audubon Field Trip, to
Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge in nearby Nevada, (Saturday,
September 13) call Marilyn Davis 435 673-0996. Public welcome.