An Annoyance Among the Leaves

I enjoy seeing the differences in urban wild life between countries. I was fascinated by one particular bird during a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico. These birds are fast, smart, and sport stealthy black plumage with eye-popping subtle iridescent hues that shift green, purple, bronze, and blue. It is the Greater Antillean grackle or as is known in PR, chango/machambo.

As I walked along a park I came across an interesting tree. I was fascinated by the bark of the trees that had a mottled texture. I stopped to admire the specimen and take a few snapshots.

I admire trees with this bark style similar to the guava tree or arbutus found around here in British Columbia. I was tripping out on said tree when suddenly a 'plague' of grackles settled their 'annoyance' on the branches. A plague and annoyance are the technical terms used for a group of grackles; a name befitting their rowdy noisy foraging style.

They put on a spectacle, emitting an excited chirping whistle as they hopped from branch to branch doing who knows what but being rather quick about it.

At first, I thought the grackles were related to crows, but as it turns out, they belong to the Icteridae (blackbird) family rather than Corvidae. It is interesting because to me their behaviour was closely similar to that of crows. Maybe living in an urban environment turns birds into wily street-smart species, I thought.

This last picture captures a little of the essence of this bird species that has a keen intelligence and sharp call.

Thank you for visiting.

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