Everytime I go to Texas, I am intrigued by those black birds that look like crows, but are more aerodynamic. They are longer, skinnier at the front, wider mid body, skinny a the rear, and flare at the tail. Their shape reminds me of a coke bottle. They have evil white eyes, and seem generally pissed off at the world. They sit in trees at hotels and screach at you when you walk by.

What the heck are they?

Resident Evil birds?

Great-tailed Grackles?

Stinkin' Starlings..... there should be a reward for every one that gets turned in DOA!

Great-tail Grackles. That's it, very good! Check out the pics of these units at this Wikipedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great-tailed_Grackle) link. See the one on the right side of the page, half way down? He's doing that "I'm pissed" thing. If they would have had these bad boys in the movie The Birds, it would have scared the crap out of me :D

It's not that I'm an ornithologist or anything, but I find these units interesting. They work their tail feathers in flight more than any other bird I have seen. They look pretty cool flying.

Heckle and Jeckle.................

Gooses.

Ahhhh... ok, but Wikipedia drops a reference to the European Starling in their description.... they look just like the starlings but bigger.... either case, they are annoying.

Grackles are rats with wings. Only thing they are good for is crapping on your car.

YES! Absolutely positively honestly true!

Only thing they are good for is crapping on your car.

What exactly is the "good" in that action? :confused:

Grackles are rats with wings. Only thing they are good for is crapping on your car.

Whoa, do we have some haters here? :D

Again, I am not a bird watcher or anything, the Grackles are just interesting because there aren't any in my parts. We do have Magpies (http://www.birdfieldguide.com/magpieamericanbirdpictures.html), though, and apparently not everyone has them. One time a buddy from Minnesota came out to ride mountain bikes. Driving to the spot, we passed an unusual amount of wildlife.... a moose, some antelope, some foxes... and his reaction was remarkably ho-hum. But then he saw a Magpie, and was obsessed with them from then on. We call them skunkbirds, they are the equivalent of flying carp. And he thought they were the coolest birds he had ever seen.

Heckle and Jeckle.................
Indubitability 'ol Chap... Indubitability.....

Ahhhh... ok, but Wikipedia drops a reference to the European Starling in their description.... they look just like the starlings but bigger.... either case, they are annoying.

But can the European Starling carry a cocanut? oh wait that was an african swallow.... maybe two starlings with a bit of string ;)

Hahah! They are creative.... for sure.

In Georgia, they are called "Black Crowes".........:D

But can the European Starling carry a cocanut? oh wait that was an african swallow.... maybe two starlings with a bit of string ;)

LOL!! Red! No, Blue! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :D :D

But can the European Starling carry a cocanut? oh wait that was an african swallow.... maybe two starlings with a bit of string ;)

It's not a matter of how it grips it, a 4 ounce bird cannot fly with a 2 pound coconut!

you cant imagine how annoying those birds are. they have become a major problem in some areas. thousands of them will be in the same part of the city. i bet 1 shot from a 12 gauge could knock 15 out of a tree.

It is all in the attitude... they have bad attitudes so they probably could carry a coconut!

They are Grackles. I was working under the tree and one pooped on me. After a few minutes he did it again!! They are evil and they eat my dogs food all day and poop all over my cars and driveway. I'm cutting down the big tree in the backyard because I'm so sick of them yelling at me all day.

I'm always in a rental car when I see them, so they can poop away! That's one less attack than on a private car.

SR-71's

Great-tail Grackles. That's it, very good! Check out the pics of these units at this Wikipedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great-tailed_Grackle) link.

It's not that I'm an ornithologist or anything, but I find these units interesting.

We moved to Phoenix from MN (where we had never seen them) 5 yrs ago, in January, and these things are thick around here over the winter. We fell in love with the variety of their calls, and we can't wait for them to return each fall.

http://www.naturesongs.com/gtgr2.wav

http://web2.uwindsor.ca/courses/biology/dmennill/Mexico/GTGR.html

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great-tailed_Grackle/sounds

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/537/_/Great-tailed_Grackle.aspx

But can the European Starling carry a cocanut? oh wait that was an african swallow.... maybe two starlings with a bit of string ;)

I'm not a bird person..I watched a show on a bird that would drop it's shelled food from a red light in the street, wait for a car to run it over and when the light turned red again it would dive down and retrieve the food..Is this the same bird???

I'm not a bird person..I watched a show on a bird that would drop it's shelled food from a red light in the street, wait for a car to run it over and when the light turned red again it would dive down and retrieve the food..Is this the same bird???

Yes you are ,Rob. Your'e a badbird person.:D

Yes you are ,Rob. Your'e a badbird person.:D

I demand an apology and you know what thread to do it in..:beers:

I demand an apology and you know what thread to do it in..:beers:

I'm done with the apologies.l:)

I'm sorry you feel that way....