SO THIS IS WHAT IS HAPPENING TO SOME BIRDS DUE TO UV exposure CAUSED BY GLOBAL WARMING! From: David [] Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2007 11:11 AM To: Lorraine Profeta Subject: Boat-tailed Grackle Quiscalus major Hi Lorraine, Yes, I still think it's a grackle. I can't recall, did you say where you live? Are you on the Gulf Coast? The brown eye on the bird either means it's a juvenile common grackle or a Gulf Coast boat-tailed. For some reason, the bird looks really mangy. Its tail feathers are incredibly worn-- you see that a lot in gulls, where the white feathers in particular wear faster than the pigmented ones, due to UV exposure. Leucistic (meaning a significant loss of pigment) grackles are not uncommon, where parts of them are white but I don't think this bird has that, because the ribs of the tail feathers look grey not white. At any rate, it's one grackle or the other. David THE AUDUBON SOCIETY Keep up with the latest in Florida conservation with Audubon of Florida's environmental e-newsletters! Sign up at www.audubonaction.org/florida -----Original Message----- From: Lorraine Profeta [mailto:profetal@comcast.net] Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 2:20 PM To: David Subject: Boat-tailed Grackle Quiscalus major Hi David, I hope you had a great weekend. These are more photos of the bird that visits my yard. It seems like an older bird. Please let me know if you still think it is a grackle? I have many black birds at my feeders too? Lorraine Margate, FL