CLOSED: What am I?

A juvenile heron of some sort? We have had a Yellow-crowned Night Heron in our yard recently and a friend lives just a ways down the road and says they have nests and babies in his yard. I wondered if it was one of them?

I think it's a young female Great-tailed Grackle. It's hard to judge size from here, but a young night heron would have yellow legs, and different coloring. But that is a big beak, kind of heron-like.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great-tailed_Grackle

lol...that figures! The beak is what made me think "heron?" but I was doubting that now because of the leg color since all I could find were yellow legs. It just seemed bigger than a grackle but that could have been because it's feathers were so fluffy. I guess finding a grackle isn't very exciting but I do love seeing anything new!

...and I do try not to just hate the grackles. They don't know they are a nuisance. They're just hot and hungry too, and the males color is very pretty.

This message was edited Jun 14, 2008 11:12 PM

Sorry, not a grackle. The beak is too large and bulky. Looks more like a juv crow that didn't get enough black! Notice the dark brown stripe behind the eye. It's a juvy but can't figure what it is.

Maybe not, but the eye stripe is what made me think it is a grackle. I wish we had more pictures.

Here are a few Great-tailed Grackle pics to compare:

http://www.realbirder.com/Texas2005/GreatTailedGrackle.jpg

http://electricwilderness.net/Icterids.html

http://atrainsbrain.blogspot.com/2007/06/glarey-mcboldacre.html

The second link looks like the same bird to me. ?? Here's a few other pics.

For size comparison if the pic comes thru right

Agree with Claypa on female (or juvenile male) Great-tailed Grackle (which is why I hadn't bothered to give an answer before, it was already answered!). Remember Great-tailed Grackle is much larger than Common Grackle (the only grackle found in jadamsreed's Ohio), as large as a magpie or smallish crow.

Resin

Wow, look at the tails on these things. Guess they are appropriately named.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Great-tailed_Grackle_dtl.html

I didn't even know there were several types of Grackles, so I've learned more than just what this is. I've noticed that some looked huge to others but just never gave it any more thought. These Great-tailed ones don't normally come to the yard and feeders, just the common ones. Thanks for all the info!

Just another note: Young crows have blue eyes, which gradually turn to their dark color as they mature.

Thanks...another little tidbit of info to store away!