Great-tailed Grackle in Mexico

Male Great-tailed Grackle

Great-tailed Grackle at our resort in Cancun, Mexico

Female Great-tailed Grackle in a Palm Tree

Female Great-tailed Grackle

Female Great-tailed Grackle gathering nest materials on the beach

There were lots of Great-tailed Grackles at our resort in Cancun, Mexico. Although they're common and kind of a noisy, nuisance bird I enjoyed watching them. Like the female, shown here on the beach, gathering nest materials. I almost thought it was a male at first since it looked so dark in the direct sunlight here on the beach, but it didn't make sense for the male to be working on the nest. All I had to do was compare the pictures side-by-side and then the differences between the male and the female were very apparent.

These grackles seem almost prehistoric the way they maneuver and use their legs to grab at stuff. I especially like the male's long tapered tail that fans out. They're more interesting than our common grackles here in the Northeast. For more information on common grackles, and the difference between grackles and starlings you can check my blog post from June 2008.