I saw these two at our birdbath, and did a double take. This little guy with the bad hairdo appears to be accompanied by the grackle sharing the birdbath with him. And the ruff of feathers down the middle of his back is so unusual. Is this a juvie grackle?
Yep, juvenile Common Grackle, starting moult into adult male plumage.
Resin
Thank you. This will solve a dispute with the spouse. Funny lookin' little critter isn't he? Now if I could just get the adults to leave the suet feeder alone and stop scaring off my chickadees & downy woodpeckers...
