WHERE ARE THE GRACKLES?
Every spring, years ago, I would occasionally see large flocks of migrating purple grackles landing in fields and lawns to feed on grain and invertebrates. Those massive gatherings were always noisy, and exciting to see. But I haven't seen great flocks of grackles in recent years; what happened to them? I recently read an article on-line that stated grackle numbers in the United States have been reduced by 60 percent in recent years. The article went on to say that flocks of grackles are being poisoned in the farmlands of the American south in winter because they consume a lot of grain. Grackles are handsome birds that are a bit larger than robins. They have blue, green and purple sheens on black feathers. And being quite adaptable, grackles walk about on lawns and bare fields to consume grain and invertebrates. They long ago adapted to those human-made habitats to get food, which helped bolster their numbers greatly. Though we don't like to