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Re: Need help with ID



On Sun, 12 Sep 1999, Robert C. Perkins wrote:
> 
> This morning a "short-tailed grackle" showed up in my back yard.  It looked
> similar for a common grackle--black or very dark brown with some
> iridescence on the back and shoulders, yellow eye, black beak.  It also had
> a spatter of brown markings on the side of the head behind the eye.  An
> adult common grackle landed next to it on the ground so I was able to
> compare the two birds side by side.  The tail of the bird in question was
> short and squared off, not tapered like the tail of a comon grackle.
> 
> Is it too early for rusty blackbirds in this area?

Yes, according to the Chapel Hill Bird Club checklist for the Triangle, 
available via Will Cook's website at 
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/chbc/trichk.pdf. Rusty Blackbirds have not 
been recorded in this area at any time between the first week of May and 
the first week of October. Neither have Brewer's, and even in winter 
they're very rare. However, given your description (especially the yellow 
eye), I can't think of any more likely candidates off the top of my head 
(other than a grackle who let the lawnmower get too close), so maybe the 
checklist needs amending...

Good birding,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/