Grackles of Green Grove Protect Their Land

May 3, one handsome male bluebird perched on railing, nesting nearby. Male rose-breasted grosbeak on suet, family of downies on deck, the three youngsters being fed bits of suet. May 4, at Howard Rd. Also saw prairie warbler, towhee, robin, house wren, song sparrow and chestnut-sided warbler. May 6, great blue heron landed on lawn along back woods, wandered around a bit. The nearby beaver pond has many heron nests.

May 7, catbirds visiting suet feeder, two male rose-breasted grosbeaks on shelled sunflower together. May 12, a downy woodpecker on suet until he was nudged out by a hairy woodpecker. May 14, a male white-crowned sparrow under feeder. May 17, perky little house wren still calling all day. Broad-winged hawk circling over woods. May 19, baby robin at nest remained on edge a long time refusing to budge, until we went away.

There was one unhatched blue egg in nest. May 20, under power lines on Parkhurst: Heard a red-eyed vireo in back woods. May 22, chokeberry trees blooming out back and the large honeysuckle thicket by the woods is covered with blossoms. The great blue heron returned, walked along to my place and then turned around and flew off. May 23, out back I can hear the red-eyed vireo and a great- crested flycatcher. Early afternoon, the heron landed in the same place on the lawn, but this time three tom turkeys spotted him and promptly began to run across the grass toward him.

He hurriedly took off. May 2, Canada geese, mallards, male ruby-throated hummingbird. May 11, tree swallows, mockingbird. May 15, garter snake, hummingbirds, cottontail rabbit, goldfinches, house finches, chickadees, tufted titmice. May 2, whippoorwill heard across the street this evening-a first. May 4, yellow warbler, rose-breasted grosbeak and hummingbirds all here today.

May 6, boy scout bird walk at. May 17, great-crested flycatcher arrived. May 24, oriole singing, wood thrush singing, catbirds, scarlet tanager singing, rose-breasted grosbeak singing.

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Tom Ennis, Almeria Dr. May 6, only one bee on my apple tree blooms…. Lisa Groves, Main St. May 6, turkey nesting right next to our garage at the top of a retaining wall. Nancy Bissell, North Main St.

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A dead turkey on the hill, and I was shocked to see vultures at it. Mau Fernandes, at Miller School. May 18, we have started the bird feeder program from the Westford Conservation Trust. Today we saw cardinal, goldfinch, house sparrow and white-breasted nuthatch [Congratulations 2nd graders! May 13, pine warbler, several ovenbirds, titmouse, chickadee, blue jay, robin, downy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, several common yellowthroats, about four Baltimore orioles, pair of warbling vireos, red-winged blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, Canada geese, spotted sandpiper, brown creeper, cardinal, goldfinches, starflower, wood anemone, marsh marigold, sarsaparilla all blooming.

Elana Schreiber, at Main St. I saw a bobcat crossing the street from the Tom Paul trail to Town Hall. It was wonderful to see. Also, gray fox crossed Graniteville Rd. Cindy Franklin, Heywood Rd. May 23, black bear quite close to house, looked like a young adult.

He had large yellow tags in both ears. Rosemarie Koester, Providence Rd. Kirsten Collins, Hildreth St. May 24, a baby owl was rescued from the middle of Hildreth St. Two people picked it up and put it in the woods. To produce palm oil for our processed foods and body care products, huge areas of forest are Palm Warbler by Doug Pederson cut down and the peat land swamps are drained. May 6, boy scout bird walk at Emmet land: This grackle is an opportunistic omnivore that eats foods ranging from seeds and insects to crabs and lizards. In many areas it has established a commensal relationship with humans; by doing so, it may increase its rate of food intake and gain protection from predators.

The Boat-tailed Grackle's mating system harem polygyny appears to be unique among North American songbirds but has been found in the oropendolas Psarocolius of the American tropics. Boat-tailed Grackle sexes remain apart most of the year, except in the nesting season when females gather in large, dense colonies, usually on small islands in marshes or in isolated trees in settled areas.

Many males are attracted to each nesting colony, but only a few high-ranked individuals succeed in mating there. Relative positions in the male dominance hierarchy are maintained from year to year; the alpha male may be ten years or older. Despite the high mating success of alpha males within the nesting colony proper, a high percentage of young are sired by noncolony males. The reproductive behavior of female Boat-tailed Grackles is molded by the potentially high rate of predation occurring in marshes.

Females nest synchronously in predator-safe sites such as marsh islands patrolled by alligators, or in trees in highway traffic islands.

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Their incubation and nestling periods are shorter than in other similar-sized songbirds. Young leave the nest prematurely, and weight gain is sacrificed for early maturation of legs and plumage. Little is known about the complex vocal repertoire of this species. Its song and Precopulatory Vocalization are of particular interest because of the role they may play in maintaining reproductive isolation from the very similar Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus , which is expanding its range into areas occupied by the Boat-tailed Grackle.

Boat-tailed Grackle Quiscalus major Order: Free Introduction Article Access The Introduction Article is just the first of 11 articles in each species account that provide life history information for the species. Subscribe Now Already a subscriber? Distribution of the Boat-tailed Grackle.