in the last week, i picked up a new hobby that has proven itself to be endlessly entertaining: bird watching.
until this week, i’ve honestly kind of disliked birds. i don’t trust chickens ever since i learned that they’re cannibalistic (and that it’s such a problem it led to innovations such as eyeglasses for chickens). they descend from dinosaurs and that one scene from the second jurassic park movie with the tiny birdlike dinosaurs who ate that girl really stuck with me when i saw the movie for the first time because i was also a young girl and identified with someone who would be eaten by dinosaurs because she wanted to play with them.
anyway, i’m over that now. i like birds and i especially like the common grackle.
did i know what a common grackle was a week ago? no i did not.
then, this beauty landed at my bird feeder.
if looks could kill, my bird feeder cam would no longer be with us
the common grackle is a bird of contradictions. it’s a medium-sized blackbird with an attitude that suggests it should be twice as large. its plumage shifts between glossy black and iridescent blues and greens depending on the light.
they’re also deeply weird in the best way. grackles practice something called anting, which is exactly as strange as it sounds: they crouch on the ground, spread their wings, and let ants crawl all over their feathers and body. the formic acid in the ants’ stings supposedly helps them get rid of parasites. but grackles don’t stop at ants. they’ve been documented doing this with walnut juice, lemon and lime juice, marigold blossoms, chokecherries, and even mothballs.
you have to respect their devotion to self-care.
this is the bird that showed up at my feeder with an expression that suggested it was about to steal my car. and now i understand why. the common grackle is out here living its best life, judging everyone, and taking chemical baths with fruit and bugs.
i think we’re going to be friends.