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Re: Need help with ID



The earliest report around here for a Rusty Blackbird is November 4 -- which 
doesn't mean it's impossible now, just not very likely.  I'd think that a 
Rusty at this time of year would be in fresh plumage, with lots of rusty 
brown feathers.

If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can click on the link for that 
at: http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/chbc/
then click on the CHBC checklist link.  If you want the fancy graphical 
version, e-mail me your snail-mail address and I'll send it to you.

Will

On 12 Sep 99, Joshua Stuart Rose wrote:

> 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/
> 
> 


--
Charles W. "Will" Cook                w 919-660-7409
cwcook@duke.edu                 h 919-967-5446
Duke University Botany Dept., Durham, North Carolina
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook