Wildlife October 2010

[mark smyth]

Mark are you sure they are European starlings? Their tails look very long. Could they be feeding on squashed acorns and maple seeds?

I like the sound of sizzling starlings

[TheOnionMan]

Mark are you sure they are European starlings? Their tails look very long. Could they be feeding on squashed acorns and maple seeds?

I like the sound of sizzling starlings

I'm fairly sure that's what they are.  They could be eating squashed acorns and maple seeds, although it really does seem that they move in a mass migratory frenzy, never staying put for more than a few moments, and then off again.  When there are smaller groups, they do indeed come to feast on various fruits and berries.

I like the sound of sizzling starlings too, when they're deep frying   Actually, their collective chatter in such mass swarms is an experience to listen to. 

[Lori S.]

Your birds are definitely not starlings, Mark (though there might be the odd one mixed in).  They're blackbirds... can't say which species without closer photos to see colours of iridescence and eye colour.  The various species of blackbirds are native and some migrate in large flocks.

[TC]

I agree with Lori. Although the picture is too small to be certain, the majority of the birds look like members of the Thrush or Blackbird family.  A few look like Starlings but the posture is wrong for the majority of the birds.  I would like to see a much larger picture at max. Mb. so it could be enlarged for a closer look.  Whatever they are, it's a pretty good picture.   

[mark smyth]

according to Autumn Watch an invasion of waxwings has started - very exciting

[mark smyth]

Two waxwings on Shetland somewhere http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=potw&rty=0&r=1&v=1&off=273034

[Maggi Young]

Stunning photos in that link, Mark.
Ian saw the first Waxwings just along the road from here on Monday. About 40 to 50  of them.

[Lori S.]

I agree with Lori. Although the picture is too small to be certain, the majority of the birds look like members of the Thrush or Blackbird family.  A few look like Starlings but the posture is wrong for the majority of the birds.  I would like to see a much larger picture at max. Mb. so it could be enlarged for a closer look.  Whatever they are, it's a pretty good picture.   

Pardon me for differing, but the birds in Mark's photos are North American blackbirds, which are Icterids, rather than thrushes.  E.g. Brewer's or Rusty Blackbirds in migration.

[TheOnionMan]

I agree with Lori. Although the picture is too small to be certain, the majority of the birds look like members of the Thrush or Blackbird family.  A few look like Starlings but the posture is wrong for the majority of the birds.  I would like to see a much larger picture at max. Mb. so it could be enlarged for a closer look.  Whatever they are, it's a pretty good picture.   

Pardon me for differing, but the birds in Mark's photos are North American blackbirds, which are Icterids, rather than thrushes.  E.g. Brewer's or Rusty Blackbirds in migration.

Thanks Lori, shows you what I know about birds, almost nada!

[Anthony Darby]

I agree with Lori. Although the picture is too small to be certain, the majority of the birds look like members of the Thrush or Blackbird family.  A few look like Starlings but the posture is wrong for the majority of the birds.  I would like to see a much larger picture at max. Mb. so it could be enlarged for a closer look.  Whatever they are, it's a pretty good picture.   

Pardon me for differing, but the birds in Mark's photos are North American blackbirds, which are Icterids, rather than thrushes.  E.g. Brewer's or Rusty Blackbirds in migration.

So not blackbirds as we know them but grackles.

[mark smyth]

...... the problems of explorers calling new birds after birds at home

[Lori S.]

Sorry again, but not grackles (though those are North American Icterids)... The birds in the photo have the shape and proportions of Brewer's or Rusty Blackbirds, rather than the longer-tailed proportions of the 3* North American grackle species.  
(I should have been much more expansive in my first comment, rather than just jumping in and out as I have done!)

*Or at least it was 3 species at the time that we were rabid birders... birds get lumped and split just like plants, and I have not always kept up!

Edit: Yes, it is still 3 grackle species - 2 of those would not be seen in Mark's area anyway. 

Brewer's Blackbird = Euphagus cyanocephalus
Rusty Blackbird = Euphagus carolinus

I can't make out any red epaulets on Mark's birds so they don't apear to be Red-winged blackbirds, nor Yellow-headed Blackbirds (the males of which are as the name suggests).  The females (and immatures) of both Red-winged and Yellow-headed are distinctly different from the males and I don't see any such birds in the flock, so it suggests an all-black species.... hence Brewer's or Rusty.  The shapes, postures and tail length work for them also.

[TheOnionMan]

Sigh... wrote a detailed message, hit the Post button, and the message vaporized, and I broke my own rule of always copying-&-pasting to a text window the body of any forum messages I draft, just in case... so no backup after it hung.  Hate when that happens... so a shorter response here the 2nd time around.

Lori, I believe you're right with Rusty Blackbird being the correct ID. I include 2 scanned images from the Peterson Guide to the Eastern Birds (USA), showing that bird, and the corresponding migration map.  Little ol' coastal Massachusetts is in direct southerly flight path for these birds migration.  I marked a red dot on the map to indicate where I'm located.

[Stephenb]

Waxwings?  Only about 200 seen on my bike ride to work this morning...

The picture shows all observations in October this year in Norway, the largest two dots representing flocks of over 1,000 birds. A few days ago a massive 3,000 were recorded at Egersund in the far south west of Norway just over the pond from Scotland....

[Anthony Darby]

...... the problems of explorers calling new birds after birds at home

I don't really have a problem with that Mark. Look at Robins, for instance. In Jamaica a robin is a tiny green bird with a red breast. In the US it is a thrush, or should that be 'blackbird'? Or are our blackbirds really thrushes? I do have a problem with the wrong species turning up in the wrong country such as the American robin in Mary Poppins.