What's in a name?

This is not just a blackbird. This is a great-tailed grackle, which sounds like a name Dr. Seuss would have invented (Find the great tailed grackle where the grickle grass grows...). Actually, we spotted these birds at Lake Cunningham in San Jose during my birthday bird hunt last weekend! The females have dark brown wings with pale brown bellies, and the males are jet black with an iridescent sheen. We thought they were separate species at first, but the Merlin app informed us otherwise!

It's important to me to learn the actual names of the birds I see and hear, and I'm not sure why. I suppose it's almost like meeting a new person. You learn their name assuming that there is an interesting history and personality attached to them that you will come to know over time. Thereafter, whenever the name is mentioned, you instantly think of the person's face, their mannerisms, your shared experiences with them, etc. Maybe that's what it is--if you're curious about a bird, learning their name ties all those pieces together into a single word.  

So remember: medium sized, black with iridescent sheen, long tail feathers (the longer the tail, the more prolific with mating)--you gotta GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE!

Additional sightings in San Jose last weekend:

Cooper's Hawk
Brown-Headed Cowbird
Green Heron
Pied-Billed Grebe
Ruddy Duck
White-Breasted Nuthatch

-C