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 hear about wildlife being killed in big numbers, I think it is better to have less grackles on the North American continent.  Grackles are known to eat the eggs and newly-hatched young of small birds and too many grackles might leave little food for other kinds of birds on lawns and fields.  Grackles can be predatory.  Less grackles would mean more balance in favor of other kinds of wildlife, particularly small birds.

     Less brown-headed cowbirds and starlings would also be better for several kinds of small birds in North America.  Cowbirds and starlings are often mixed into grackle flocks and get poisoned with the grackles in winter. 

     Cowbirds lay their eggs in small birds' nests, forcing the foster parents to raise the foster chick as their own.  Unfortunately, cowbird young often hog food the parents bring for their own offspring, sometimes starving those baby birds to death.

     The adaptable and aggressive starlings, originally from Europe, usurp tree hollows to raise their young, usually taking holes from woodpeckers and other kinds of native cavity nesters.  Some bird populations are lowered by starlings.

     Grackles became too numerous because of their adapting to farmland to feed and lawn trees to nest in.  People began poisoning them when they became too many and impacted farming profits.  Some species of wildlife that become too numerous upset the balance of nature, as people have done.  Those species' populations need to be lowered to have a healthy balance of nature that is better for more than just a few species of life.            

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