On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 21:29:52 GMT, Harold Robbins
wrote:

So you think it is all right if they kill off all the migrating birds,
songbirds, and REAL native birds? They are well on the way to creating
a nation-wide crisis of migrating birds being killed off, here in Austin.


Grackles are real native birds. Pigeons are not. Both are
proliferating because of human activity. It is our untidiness that
allows grackles, rats, pigeons, and other similar species to thrive.
They are opportunistic.

At some level, you have to admire birds that can apparently thrive on
stale french fries and dried chewing gum. Grackles all now know how to
steal dried dog food and drop it in the dog's water dish to soften it.
They learned this behavior from each other, within a decade or so of
the proliferation of dried dog food. That's pretty impressive.

Have you ever looked closely at a male grackle showing off in the sun?
This time of year, they are spectacular -- shiny black plumage with
purple and green highlights.


Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor