Today's Bird: The Great Tailed Grackle

While I'm out getting pictures of more birds, you can check out this guy: the great-tailed grackle.  People who live here in the Rio Grande Valley know them as the birds that go all Hitchcock on you in the HEB parking lot.  During the winter, they gather like crazy on telephone wires and squeal and squeak until the sun goes down.  Most people ignore them because they're EVERYWHERE and frequently misidentify them as "crows."  They're not crows, which are more closely related to Blue Jays.  This bird is more closely related to blackbirds and orioles. Despite how loud and numerous they are, they're quite lovely birds.  Even though I see them almost every day, I decided to take this photograph at the South Padre Island Convention Center.