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Friday, May 17, 2013

Not Too Hot Hike

Male Boat-Tailed Grackle in flight
They're called "Boat-Tailed" Grackles because once they get into flight they turn their tail feathers vertical to the ground, much the way the rudder of a boat functions in the water.
Female Boat-Tailed Grackle

Non-Boat-Tailed Grackle at rest

3 comments:

Dr. K said...

Nice close-ups of the grackle.

Scott said...

When I enlarged the first image, it looked like it had been manipulated to look like a painting--very nice.

Also, though I knew Boat-tailed Grackles from Florida, I never knew where the common name came from. Many thanks! Beautiful, fun AND educational blog!

packrat said...

Thanks very much, Scott. Yes, I have to admit to enhancing that first image because it looked a little dull in the original.

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