August is a great month for backyard birders who enjoy watching bird behavior and in particular, the phenomenon of Flocking. Grackles and other black birds will certainly put on a good show.
For example, many year round backyard birders who are familiar with grackles may see the occasional few birds hanging precariously from the side of a feeder or pecking around looking for fallen seed and more than likely being aggressive to each other. But at this time of year, we can be startled by a black cloud tearing by the window landing with equal and unified suddenness on the lawn with a chorus of screeching, only to leapfrog as a team to our neighbor’s backyard, then alight in a tree and then take off at high-speed for their next stop, almost certainly a short distance south.
Starlings will also put on a mystical and incredibly graceful show. Who hasn’t been on a highway and seen what appears to be a highly localized and ever-changing black cloud of starlings moving like an underinflated balloon from one side of the highway to the other, expanding and deflating as a unified mass. Starlings can also be seen at this time of year beginning to congregate on wires at intersections, each exactly one wing span away from touching a neighbor.
Interestingly, and obviously, we recognize a flock as being a set of individual birds which have developed a need to be in proximity to others, usually of the same species. Presumably they know instinctively that there is safety in numbers and that there is an ordeal in store for them that will require a large and strong team to ensure success.
The flock then takes on its own persona with no discernible flock leaders. The aerobatics, the sudden takeoffs and landings and the general direction of travel do not appear to be led by any individual but occur through an instantaneous and shared response to a stimulus. For example, a predator is suspected, and all individuals in the flock react the same way. Each bird does not need to hear an order from a leader to move away or hunker down, they just do it. A group of humans will act the same way – a loud noise will cause all heads to turn at the same time.
When blessed with a transient flock of grackles up close, make the most of the opportunity to practice your identification skills. Study the birds and pick out the wayward Red-Winged Blackbird and the cowbirds, and enjoy comparing the plumage of the mature adult with that of the dowdy young.
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Filed under: Specific species Tagged: | backyard birder, bird feeders, Flocking, Grackles, Migration
