What is smaller than a crow, larger than a black bird and black all over

[dancinec]

A male grackle! I have never seen one before. This bird sat for me for 30 shots, sometimes flying away, but coming right back where I was. The closet I can come using the books is the Great-tailed Grackle. he sat and sung for me, picked up a dead crab and played with it, for me amazing behavior.
1/320s f/8.0 at 400.0mm iso200

[dancinec]

Just two more . ..

[Scottes]

Nice shots. I love the pose on #2. Though they seem to be just another pain in the butt crow-type, I love the colors in the head feathers. If you catch one just right they simply explode with color, and are quite beautiful.

[tupe]

Excellent! Congrats on catching this fella.

[Acc]

Ya, looks like a male Great-tailed Grackle. Beautiful and clever bird.

Very good photos !

Acc

[Paul A]

Excellent shots Dennis, this species is spreading rapidly in Costa Rica and seems to be doing so here in Calif. as well. We get them up here now in Ventura Co. Many more crows though, I wonder how those 2 species will come out together?

[superdiver]

That is a "GREAT" tail....LOL

Nice shots too!

[Dimitri_V]

Great detail in the blacks (1st photo) Dennis,and the bokeh is awesome.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Excellent job on these!

[ZipDude66]

You got some fine looking photographs here Dennis.

Zip

[dancinec]

Scottes Nice shots. I love the pose on #2. Though they seem to be just another pain in the butt crow-type, I love the colors in the head feathers. If you catch one just right they simply explode with color, and are quite beautiful.Thanks Scottes, I know nothing about them, do they act normally this way?
tupe Excellent! Congrats on catching this fella.
Hi Joe, sometimes just being there helps to catch something new. Thanks for commenting.
Acc Ya, looks like a male Great-tailed Grackle. Beautiful and clever bird.

Very good photos !

AccThanks Acc, only bird that fit the photo, it is an interesting bird to watch.
Paul A Excellent shots Dennis, this species is spreading rapidly in Costa Rica and seems to be doing so here in Calif. as well. We get them up here now in Ventura Co. Many more crows though, I wonder how those 2 species will come out together? The grackle actually posed for me, I kept expecting it to fly away. I worry about the crows expanding so rapidly as well. Thanks for commenting.
superdiver That is a "GREAT" tail....LOL

Nice shots too!I don't know where the name came from the illustrations of them look like they all have big tails. Thanks for taking time to comment.
dv2004 Great detail in the blacks (1st photo) Dennis,and the bokeh is awesome. Thanks Demitri, the bird provided the black colors.
CyberDyneSystems Excellent job on these!
Thanks CDS for the kind comment.
ZipDude66 You got some fine looking photographs here Dennis.

ZipThanks Zip for the kind remarks.

[RonnF]

Nice shots, Dennis. I lived in Redondo Beach, Ca up until 1957 and I certainly never saw a Grackle. Are they moving up the state? I like all the shots but especially #2 and #4. The bird appears very long in #4 and looks to be enjoying the crab. Do you often reduce your shutter speed to 1/320 or did you just lower it for this series? I can't get such sharp results at that speed. Or were you using the tripod?


Ron

[Poggi]

I like those grackle shots. But, they sure can be noisy!

[dancinec]

Nice shots, Dennis. I lived in Redondo Beach, Ca up until 1957 and I certainly never saw a Grackle. Are they moving up the state? I like all the shots but especially #2 and #4. The bird appears very long in #4 and looks to be enjoying the crab. Do you often reduce your shutter speed to 1/320 or did you just lower it for this series? I can't get such sharp results at that speed. Or were you using the tripod?


RonThanks Ron, I am experimenting with using iso 200 rather than 400. I usually have shutter speeds over 1/500 sec. I am using my trusty 100-400 lens without tripod.

[dancinec]

I like those grackle shots. But, they sure can be noisy!I was entranced by this bird. I am sure once you get used to them, they are probably annoying. This was my first experience in seeing a real Grackle.

[Gary Fairhead]

Very nice series here Dennis ...a much larger bird than the grackles I am used to. Nice exposures and the second pose is super.

[Stephen Stephen]

Well done Dennis. As Gary said our common/bronze grackles don't appear to be this big, nor do they have the long tail feathers.

[reewik]

Very nice shots here... I like the claw hanging out of its mouth!

[Mitcon]

Wow Dennis, amazing images of this interesting bird and you have exposed them so well too. Simply excelent job on all of these, detail, exposure, sharpness..it's all there. Love them

[busbyea]

Nice detail & poses in all shots. great looking series. I have such a difficult time trying to photograph birds like this. You managed to capture them beautifully.

[Raj]

Nice shots
I would have taken it for a crow if you didnt told ..

[dancinec]

Nice shots
I would have taken it for a crow if you didnt told ..Thanks Raj, find out most people do not like them.