I saw a huge black cloud passing our window and wouldn't you know, the sarbings are back. there must've been at least twenty of more. caught this one in a landing maneuver. wonder what the middle one on the left is saying to him. I think he said I told you there will be food waiting for us at that annoying camera lady.
Fab shot of the blackbirds. They used to visit our feeders regularly about 10 yrs ago and I never see them any more. Viewing large they appear to all be females except maybe the one on the very top middle. I love how that little one is "talking" to them all.
@olivetreeann why do I always mix up blackbirds and starlings. I thought the starlings are the speckled ones. thank you Ann for your two comments this morning. have a great day. it's snowing here again, darn it.
@bruni It's an easy mistake. But this is how I tell the difference- the Boat-tailed Grackles are the shiny black & blue ones with the long tail; the Starlings have short and squatty tails and the speckles (basically they are the UGLY ones!!); the crows are larger, all black and rather noisy. The Red-winged Blackbirds are just a little smaller than a Crow but they are a field bird, so you probably don't see them in your neighborhood. They have a beautiful song and are around in the summer and fall- you would probably see them while you are driving through farm country. They have a band of yellow and orange-red on their wings. Ravens are HUGE and even louder than the crows. These guys look like Starlings to me because of the tails- and I thought I might have seen speckles on their breasts when I viewed it large. Anyway- that's Ann's bird lesson for the day!!
@olivetreeann Thank you Ann. a good lesson learned..hope I remember, you know how it is when you always caledl them blackbirds, it's difficult to switch over.
In Europe (Holland we have .: the : Merel (Turdus merula )
the : Kraai (Corvidia) and the Spreeuw ( Sturmidae)
The male Merel is black with a orange bill. The female is brown
The Kraai is bigger and totally black
The Spreeuw is the most beautiful one with sparkling all over. In autumn they are seen in big swarms
This has to be Spreeuwen as the Merel lives solitary .
Love the capture of them .
Nice shot, Bruni! Definitely Starlings. Take it from the girl who has gotten into birds in the past year! If you ever doubt, go to allaboutbirds.org and type in the type you think it is and there are photos of what they look like. Starlings have yellow beaks whereas crows and blackbirds and others @olivetreeann mentioned have black ones. Grackles' eyes are also yellow (see my photo from last summer of my Grackle). Starlings do lose their speckles at some point. I read that on the website. Check it out. It has really come in handy for me! Great catch of the one coming in for the landing! Well done :)
the : Kraai (Corvidia) and the Spreeuw ( Sturmidae)
The male Merel is black with a orange bill. The female is brown
The Kraai is bigger and totally black
The Spreeuw is the most beautiful one with sparkling all over. In autumn they are seen in big swarms
This has to be Spreeuwen as the Merel lives solitary .
Love the capture of them .