Great-tailed Grackles
birdfotos.com
Great-tailed Grackles
Quiscalus mexicanus
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Map & range may not be to any scale.
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I have never seen a Great-tailed Grackle's nest until I was photographing in the Heron Rookery.
There had to be at least 100 or more in the area of a foot ball field.
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Not knowing just what kind of a nest I was looking at,
I decided to look inside of one of them.
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Checking in my guide to Nest Eggs by Baicich & Harrison, second edition, I see that they are Great-tailed Grackle eggs.
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Of course when the bird returned I knew for sure what it was.
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A week later I see the parent bird is looking into the nest before getting in to it.
There just may be some thing other than eggs by now.
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I knew sooner or later if there were chicks they would stick their heads up.
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Looks like that third egg didn't hatch.
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These guys are hungry.
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Both parents attended the nest duties.
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Back to sleep after a good meal.
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The feeding seems to never stop.
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And then back to sleep.
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And then of course there are not so nice nest duties that must be done after each feeding.
That means carrying off the fecal sack of the chicks.
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Both chicks lived to leave the nest and hopefully lived happily ever after.
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By the way, have you ever seen Grackles catching fish and eating them??
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