Blackbirds

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Bobolink

Eastern Meadowlark

Western Meadowlark

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
Chip Perrigo, hoping to “add a new bird to my life list” arrived at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Brighton late on the afternoon of 11 February 1971. The bare trees “already teemed with blackbirds” that had arrived to roost for the night. Specifically, he hoped to find an adult male Yellow-headed Blackbird that had been reported nearby at the feeder of Mrs. Alan Newman.He got a Yellow-headed Blackbird all right, just not the one he expected. He walked around the church to get a better angle on the birds, and “within a few minutes I was looking directly overhead at an immature male Yellow-headed Blackbird only 35 feet away, and the same bird regarded me with a contemptuous arrogance for a 7X30 stare.”The most striking feature of the bird, Perrigo reported, was a large shield-shaped throat patch “of an oddly incomparable color I can only describe as a rusty yellow. Several white spots radiate from beneath the yellow throat and halfway down the breast.”When it finally flew off, it gave the “impression of an all yellow head.” (GOS, April 1971)
Background
These highly social birds are most numerous in prairie wetlands of central and western United States and Canada, but “small, disjunct” breeding populations occur in northwest Ohio, eastern Michigan and southeast Ontario Province. Males maintain harems of one to six females during breeding. Strays have been reported with increased frequency along the East Coast in recent years, especially in Florida where it is now a yearly, “almost year-round” visitor. Populations fluctuate with water levels. Numbers declined significantly, for example, during drought years in the 1980s. (BNA 192: 1-3, 10, 20)
Local history
Eaton (1914) knew of only one record for New York, a specimen “reported as taken” at Irondequoit Bay in September 1899. (Note: Bull gives the date as 15 September 1898 – Bull, p. 526) “Its occurrence was purely accidental,” Eaton noted, “but this species is likely at any time to appear in flocks of Red-winged blackbirds which are coming in from the Northwest.” (Eaton, 2:229) He was right, though more than 70 years would pass before this species began appearing here with any regularity.Those appearances began when Mrs. Newman spotted her male “feeding on small seeds approximately 20 feet away from rear window in with a flock of 15 Red-winged Blackbirds at my feeding table” on 19 January 1971. (GOS, March 1971) It stayed for about 20 minutes, then returned on 31 January in her viburnum hedge for 15 minutes.The biggest “influx” occurred in 1978. At least three were frequenting feeders in the Rochester area in January and February, followed by three more at Tryon Park on 20 April. (KB 28:106, 172; BA, 25 January 1978) Beginning in the mid 1970s there were almost yearly sightings to 1989, then a 10-year gap until yearly sightings again from 1999 to 2002. The occasional sighting of pairs in New York State raises the tantalizing possibility this colorful species may one day breed in the state. (Levine, p. 549) A male was reported calling from the marshes south of Irondequoit Bay on 11 July 2002, but was not seen and NYSARC did not accept the report that was submitted. (KB 52:349) As NYSARC notes in its 2002 annual report, Yellow-headed Blackbirds are regular breeders in Ontario within 200 miles of New York (James 1991). However, there was no evidence of breeding reported in the state during either BBA.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an irregular, very rare visitant.
Occurrence
About 33 records since 1971, about half occurring in either January or April.

One on 16 May 1973 became caught in a wire pen where Jerry Czech kept his pet mallards on Whiting Road in Webster. Carol Czech alerted other birders; by the time Jerry got home it was after dark. “He was examining the bird with a flashlight preparatory to catching and banding it when it began flying up the side of the pen, frightened by either the light or the ducks,” John Brown reported. “Unfortunately, it found a hole in the wire at the top, squeezed through and disappeared in the darkness.” (KB 23:146; BA, 24 May 1973)Many of our records are at feeders in winter. One of those 1978 birds, in Chili, “stayed long enough in one location so that many people could see this rare winter visitor,” wrote Chip Perrigo. “With a little bit of patience this golden-hooded beauty could unerringly be found at one of several neighborhood feeders in the Paul Road area. . .” (LG, March 1978)Robert Dobson’s party on the Rochester CBC found one on 22 December 1985 “at a feeder at 212 Cherry Road with a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds” (GOS, May 1986) Large flocks of blackbirds should be routinely scanned. An adult male found 13 March 1988 along Valley Road and Meehan Road near Rose, Wayne County, by Donna Traver was the proverbial “needle in a haystack”: It was “in the company of approximately 250,000 to 300,000 blackbirds!” (LG, May 1988)
Maxima: Three on 20 April 1978 (mob) at Tryon Park. (KB 28:172) Three males on 13 April 2006 (D. Tetlow) at Hamlin Beach SP. (LG, June 2006)

Bobolink

Dolichonyx oryzivorus
As this birder walked the gravel road from the bend in Hogan Point Road toward Salmon Creek in June 2006, an incredible study in contrasts was spread before his eyes.On the far, north side of Salmon Creek, a row of expensive new homes occupied multi-acre lots. Every lot was meticulously mowed, right down to the edge of the cattails. What a waste, the birder thought to himself. Especially compared to the scene where he stood, amidst land set aside for the Braddock Bay Wildlife Management Area all along the south side of the creek. It reminded the birder of looking out over a sea of cattails, and finding Red-winged Blackbirds perched at regular intervals, jealously guarding their territories and mates. Only this was a sea of brown-topped grass, and the birds were Bobolinks, not blackbirds. The delightful gurgling songs arose from both sides of the road. Males occasionally left their perches to hover in the air; pale yellow females, looking like an entirely different species, dropped into the grass carrying food in their bills. It was exhilarating to know that at least here, a bobolink colony would be allowed to thrive, safe from the insatiable spread of fancy new homes into the countryside, each with its mindless expanse of “sanitized” lawns where once grassland birds had thrived.
Background
“All country people know the Bobolink and nearly all the American poets have celebrated him in song,” Eaton (1914) wrote. “There certainly is something very entertaining in the abandonment, ecstasy and irrepressible merriment of the Bobolink’s melody as he sits in the blossoming apple tree or swaying on a tall spear of grass, pouring forth his soul to his mate hidden in the meadow, or to the soul of summer. Frequently he is too much overcome with his feelings to remain in the apple tree and soars about over the meadows with quivering wings and gurgling roundelay. If his mate chances to appear he gives chase and pursues until she darts among the thick grasses to resume her duties of housekeeping.” (Eaton II: 223)This colorful summer resident of meadows and hayfields looks like it is “wearing a tuxedo backward.” The “skunk blackbird” is an “extraordinary migrant,” making a yearly round trip of as much as 20,000 kilometers from breeding grounds generally between 39 and 50 degrees north to wintering grounds in the pampas of South America. These birds apparently use an “integrated system” to migrate, with iron oxide in their tissues helping them use the earth’s magnetic field “as a primary cue for orientation, but (relying) on location of stars once this initial magnetic cue is set in their ‘inclination compass.’” Males simultaneously hold pair bonds with multiple females. Numbers have decreased with the decline of meadows and hayfields, and with the increased planting of alfalfa in those that remain. Also hay fields are cut 2-3 weeks earlier than in the 1940s and 50s, increasing nest mortality. Moreover, it continues to be shot as an agricultural pest on its South American wintering grounds where it is also captured for pets. (BNA 176: 1-2, 4, 10, 18-19)     Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a common summer resident in Monroe and Livingston counties and fairly common in Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to five birds, with a maximum count of 45, on dates ranging from 19 April to 30 September.  When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, he found this species reported 259 times from late April through early October, with average tallies of 30-50 during the last half of August. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)In 1953, Tanghe considered this an common breeder in the Rochester area, specifically mentioning West Henrietta and the lakeshore at Island Cottage as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)Bull (1974) said this species had become a “much scarcer breeder than in former times” – especially on Long Island – because of loss of grassland habitat. “It is perhaps most numerous in the agricultural districts of the Finger Lakes region and south of the Lake Ontario plain.” (Bull, p. 523)    Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common to very common summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence     Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 16 April to 17 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 3 to 9 May. Subsequently, two on 10 April 1987 (R. and J. Kesselring) at Brockport set a new record early date. (GOS, June 1987)     Flocks of up to 30 were observed feeding in plowed fields during the spring migration in 1971. (KB 21:152)
   Spring maxima:   100 on 3 May 1979 (F. Dobson) at Avon. (GOS, July 1979)      82 on 6 June 1999 (D. Tetlow, Davids) migrating at Braddock Bay was unusual for so late in the season. (KB49: 333)
Summer/breeding status: The BBA projects found evidence of breeding throughout our region, but also evidence this species is being pushed out of some areas. During the second project, for example, there was an increased number of blocks without any evidence of breeding in western Monroe County – where suburban sprawl continues at a rapid pace – and throughout Wayne County.

Post-breeding flocks occur in late summer.
Summer maxima: 75 on 8-26 August 1966 (Listman) Sweden. (GOS, October 1966) 250 on 9 August 2002 (D. Tetlow) at Hogan Point. (LG, October 2002) 125 on 31 August 1993 (Ewald) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, October 1993)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 15 August to 13 October, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 2 to 11 September. Subsequently, one on 21 October 2007 (J. McGowan) at Savannah was record late. (LG, December 2007) Also late: one on 15 October 1995 (Sherony) at Hamlin Beach. (GOS, December 1995)
Fall maxima: 60 on 30 September 1980 (F. Dobson) west spit, Braddock Bay. (GOS, November 1980)

Eastern Meadowlark

Sturnella magna
A “clear, plaintive whistle” – to some observers sounding like spring-most-here – is the unmistakable song of a species closely linked to our grasslands and open areas.mBut it was a raspy squawk, coming from a field near the south end of Nations Road, that caught this birder’s attention on 9 July 2006. A meadowlark perched on a fencepost, insect remnants dangling from its bill, flipping its tail up and down as it continued to squawk. It obviously had a nest with young somewhere nearby. The birder noted the oversized, flesh-colored feet that seemed to encompass the top of the fencepost. As the bird looked away, he admired the whimbrel-like striping on the back of its head. Then, as the bird continued to perch, he wondered: Shouldn’t this bird get on with delivering its food? Clearly it was uneasy about something. Moments later, a Red-tailed Hawk swooped low, headed toward an adjoining field. The meadowlark fled at the raptor’s approach, then returned, perched a few moments and, satisfied the coast was clear, fluttered out over the unmowed grass and dropped out of sight.Two weeks before, the birder had driven past mile after mile of plowed fields, row crops and neatly mowed residential frontage lots along Lakeshore Road in Orleans County, and had not seen a single meadowlark. He had returned to Knapp Shores, where meadowlarks had been singing along the parkway earlier in June, only to find a wasteland of recently mowed grass. So it was reassuring to hear meadowlarks at several places along Nation’s Road. More than ever, the birder appreciated the sign posted next to the field where the meadowlark had dropped down to its nest: “Conservation Area. The natural resources of this land are protected by agreement between the landowner and the Genesee Valley Conservancy.”
Background
This familiar bird of open country can be found nesting “from the grassy dunes of the Atlantic Coast west to the more lush river valleys of the Great Plains, and from the pastures and grasslands of southern Canada south through the savannas of Middle America and northern South America,” notes Wesley E. Lanyon in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America. Since 1960 it has expanded westward into southern Kansas and central Texas, and increased greatly in Costa Rica and Panama with the clearing of forests for agriculture. However, its numbers have been declining throughout much of its range in North America, especially in northeastern states, where grasslands are being reforested or lost to urbanization or more intensive agriculture, and because of grazing and trampling by livestock. It also loses nests and nestlings to early mowing, which is “best delayed until Aug. to avoid destruction of nests and young, and ideally should be done only every 3-5 years.” (BNA 160: 1, 2, 16-17)
Local history
Even Eaton (1914) reported that “great numbers of the young are destroyed by early mowing which is practiced so generally throughout the New York meadows.” He listed this as a common summer resident in Monroe, Livingston and Wayne counties, occasionally remaining as a year-round resident in Livingston and Monroe. (Eaton II: 236, I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of two to 14 birds, with a maximum count of 100, on dates ranging from 2 March to 24 December. “A few Jan. & Feb. records,” he added, “but doubtful if any survive until Spring.”When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 690 times, and was a year-round presence, with seven records in January and the first half of February. Average counts of 30-50 were reported the third week of March. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)In 1953, Tanghe described this as an abundant breeding species in the Rochester area, specifically mentioning the Burroughs-Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and West Henrietta as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)Like the Bobolink, it remains a species of concern because of early mowing and loss of habitat as farmland is abandoned and development or plant succession take over.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, very common summer resident and an irregular, fairly common winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular rare to fairly common winter visitant and a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 28 February to 11 April, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 11 to 21 March. However, one on 23 February 1984 (Griffith) at Greece was an earlier “first record for the spring migration.” (GOS, April 1984)Sizeable flocks have sometimes been found migrating along the Lake Ontario shoreline.
Spring maxima: 3,000 on 15 March 1964 (R. Dobson) at Braddock Bay, a “fabulous count” with birds flying southeasterly. (KB14: 99) 300 on 19 March 1966 (Genesee Ornithological Society hike) at Manitou. (KB16: 101) 300 on 28 March 1954 (Van Beurden, Bieber) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, March-April 1954) 100 migrating on 28 March 1961 (Listman) at Braddock Bay. (KB11: 47) 125 on 30 March 1987 (Nicoletti) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, May 1987) 300 on 1 April 1978 (Perrigo) west lakeshore (LG, May 1978) 500+ on 4 April 1956 at Braddock Bay, part of a “vast flood” of more than 100,000 migrating land birds. (BA, 5 April 1956)
Summer/breeding status: Results from the Breeding Bird Atlas projects indicate the concern over this species may be justified. During the first project, breeding was confirmed even in the inner rung of Rochester’s suburbs. By the second project, no breeding evidence of any kind was reported from several blocks in northwestern Monroe County where ongoing suburban sprawl has consumed habitat. Confirmations of breeding were down sharply throughout the region, an indirect indication that atlasers may have encountered this species less often than during the previous project.

Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 1 October to 25 November, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 17 October to 3 November.
     Fall maxima:      20 on 6 October 1979 (Genesee Ornithological Society hike) Greece. (GOS, December 1979)
Winter: “Probably one or two” winter in Monroe County every year, Edson speculated in 1939, but were often overlooked because weedy fields in winter were not considered fruitful birding areas. “Even so, one or two meadowlarks are seen in winter about every third year.” (WBR, 30 January 1939) He revised that frequency in 1947, saying “in the last 30 years, we have had about five reports of one or two birds remaining through the winter.” (WBR, 9 December 1947) Two years later 14 and six on 9 and 30 January (Klonick, Raetz) were reported at Honeoye Falls and Scottsville. (GNR)  The winter of 1959-60 was a “record one” for this species, with flocks of a dozen or more reported in Greece and Gates, according to Edson. They were seen several times where farmers were spreading manure on top of the snow, no doubt finding grain thrown out with the manure. (WBR, 1 February 1960; note, however, that March/July 1960 Goshawk lists January tallies of 10 and 8) Anywhere from three to 18 were tallied at five locations the following winter (KB11: 47) and 15 were at Greece, 22 at Victor (Closs, Whites) the winter after that. (KB12: 36) At one time it was noteworthy when at least a few are not found wintering here. (KB 44:122) Now it is much less common at that season, notes Robert Spahn, despite more intensive coverage than in 1959. Loss of habitat, no doubt, has contributed to this. Indeed, Region 2 Kingbird reports mention January or early February sightings of this species in only eight of 30 years from 1976 to 2005, and none since 1998. Eight along Nation’s Road throughout January 1993 (C. Cass, mob) was considered a particularly good number – “for recent years.” (GOS, March 1993)
     Winter maxima:      15 on 2 December 1956 (Listman) Ling Road. (GNR)      25 on 6 December 1954 (R. Dobson) at Parma. (GOS, November/December 1954)      15 on 30 December 1961 (Cloos) at Hogan Point. (GNR)      18 on 14 December 1960 (Spencer) Walworth. (KB 11: 47)      22 on 22 February 1962 (Whites) Victor. (KB 12: 36)

Western Meadowlark

Sturnella neglecta
On 18 April 1948, “there came from across the open fields off Shore Acres out Hilton way clear, resounding notes.” Those notes resonated with members of a Genesee Ornithological Society field trip who had Midwestern backgrounds: a Western Meadowlark was present! The bird, perched atop a telephone wire along a “red-osier-lined” roadway, soon tired of the scrutiny and flew to perch at the edge of a nearby apple orchard, A. W. Bussewitz related. “But how was the rest of the world, particularly the other honored members of our profession, to be told that we of a verity were listening to a bona fide Western Meadowlark that morning and not simply an aberrant or ambidextrous Easterner?”To prove it, the bird was collected, thus documenting the state’s first “definite” record. (GOS, May/July 1948; Bull, p. 524) Thus began an interesting saga. From the 1950s into the 1980s, this species was a regular, albeit rare visitant and even appeared on the verge of carving out a permanent niche as a breeding species. Recently, however, this species has become much more sporadic in its appearances, perhaps related to declines in population at the eastern fringe of its range (see Background below).
Background
“The Western Meadowlark is one of our most abundant and widely distributed birds, inhabiting open country from meadows and cultivated fields of the north central United States to tidal flats along the Pacific Ocean, from the Mexican plateau to prairies of southern Canada, and from seal level to mountain meadows at 12,000 feet,” notes Wesley E. Lanyon in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America. It formerly bred eastward only to the forest edge in Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin. During the 1900s, however, it expanded its range northeastward, with scattered colonies now breeding in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, southern Ontario and extreme western New York. Males usually have two mates, occasionally three during the breeding season. Breeding populations have been declining slightly across its range, with severest declines in northeast sections where it has most recently expanded. This may be due to changing agricultural practices. (BNA 104: 1-2, 9, 14) Almost identical to its eastern counterpart, except for its “flutelike, gurgling” song. (WBR, 5 May 1952)
Local history
Four years elapsed before the second record in our region occurred: One was singing from 25 April to 3 May 1952 (Listman) in the vicinity of East Henrietta Road and the new Thruway. (KB 2:50; WBR, 5 May 1952) The next year another was singing from 26 April to 17 May along Drum Road in Webster. (KB 3: 45) “Starting with the early 1950s singing individuals, believed to be this species, were recorded from various areas in western New York almost on an annual basis,” Bull (1974) noted. (Bull, p. 524)Starting in 1956, those appearances did become annual in Region 2. The following year the first record of breeding in New York state occurred at the Manitou Road intersection with the Parkway near Braddock’s Bay. There are various accounts. Bull (1974) related that on 19 April a male was heard singing, and was seen subsequently with a presumed female giving the “western” call note. “This pair was continually present throughout the spring and summer, but the nest was not searched for, so as ‘not to disturb the birds.’” However, on Aug. 25, an adult heard giving the “typical” call was observed “feeding young out of the nest.” (Bull, p. 524)In the Goshawk monthly summary for June 1957, Listman reported he “found the nest of a meadowlark which gave the notes of the Western Meadowlark when it flushed. The nest contained eggs which had hatched some days earlier when the young were discovered dead near the nest.”John Brown indicated in his column that a nest was indeed found at the Manitou road intersection with the parkway. “That nest was broken up, but observers felt sure that there was more than one pair in the vicinity,” he noted. Adults feeding young at the same location in August “indicates that at least one brood was raised.” (BA, 29 August 1957)Western Meadowlarks deserted the Manitou area in 1958, probably because of the grading and planting of most of this section, Miller reported. Nonetheless, “Western Meadowlarks seemed to be establishing themselves in the area. They were recorded in 1956 and 1957 in the Manitou area, and in 1958 and 1959 in the Webster area. These records are not of passing birds that were present but for a short time, but apparently of nesting birds present from late April to early July or even later. (Perish the thought that the eastern Meadowlarks have somewhere learned the western meadowlark song.)” (GOS, January/February 1960)The Webster birds were along Lake Road and Schlegel Road. (KB 8: 81, GNR) A singing Western Meadowlark also was reported all of June 1964 (Haller, Seldon) at Retsof. (KB 14:222) In the late 1960s-early 1970s it was regularly seen at a site variously identified as “Church Road in Parma” (actually in Hamlin) or “Curtis Road in Hamlin” (actually in Parma). “This is now a well-established early occurrence,” though this species was still only sporadically reported elsewhere in the region. (KB 20:130; 21:152) By 1974, Bull pinpointed nine locations where it had occurred in our region, including seven in Monroe and two in Livingston county. Indeed, “The area in and near Rochester has had the most reports of this species,” Bull noted in 1974, suggesting that this species had penetrated New York “from the west, most likely by way of the Niagara Frontier corridor from Ontario.” One at Gaines in May 1977 was “paired with an Eastern female and undoubtedly attempted to nest.” (LG, June 1977) “Many of these birds reside for weeks or months in a given location with no indication of breeding,” Robert Spahn observed. “However, since the male does not visit the nest during building or incubation” breeding can be difficult to document. For example, a male returned to the same territory at the intersection of Lakeshore and North Sawyer roads near Point Breeze from 1979-1984, but breeding was not confirmed – “in spite of considerable effort” by observers during the first BBA project. (KB 32:271, 274; Andrle, p. 472)Even in 1983, Kevin Griffith noted that the “numbers of individuals reported from here is relatively low” and were it not for the “very cooperative” Point Breeze bird, “we would be hard pressed to view the bird on a regular basis.” (LG, June 1983) In 1985, even the Point Breeze site was abandoned. (GOS, July/August 1985)Now reported even less frequently, and not just in this region of the state. “In the past ten years the regularity of occurrence has declined precipitously,” NYSARC noted in 2002. (KB52: 303) One at Hamlin 8 May 1997 (O’Hara) was the first in several years. (KB47: 200, 204)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a (formerly) irregular, rare spring visitant; a casual, very rare summer visitant and a (formerly) casual, very rare fall visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a sporadic very rare visitant.
Occurrences Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 31 March to 31 May, with a mid range of 19 April to 5 May. An earlier date was 16 March 1983 (mob) when one was at Point Breeze. (LG, April 1983) Summer/breeding status: See history above. During the first BBA (1980-1985), this was listed as a probable breeder in three blocks, including Point Breeze, accounting for half of all blocks statewide. By the second BBA project (2000-2005) there was no evidence of breeding in our region, and in only one block statewide.
Fall: Recorded as late as 7 September 1957 (Listman) at Manitou the year breeding was reported at that location. (KB 7: 121) One at Rochester Country Club, Brighton on 9 October 1961 (Starling) appears to be the only other fall record. (KB 11:102, 211)

Orchard Oriole

Icterus spurious
Good birders investigate not only the birds they see alive, but also the ones they find dead. When Walt Listman stopped to examine an “unusual-looking bird” lying along Lakeshore Road in Orleans County in June 1967, he discovered it was an Orchard Oriole. He picked it up and turned it over to the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences. Moreover, “having noted that the bird was apparently carrying excrement from a nest, Listman went back the next day and found the nest in which the female was busy feeding young birds,” John Brown reported. (BA, 29 June 1967) This bit of detective work thereby documented the first nesting record in our Region and located what, for many years, was the only reliable place in our region to find these birds.
Background
Widely distributed east of the Rockies, North America’s smallest oriole “shows a distinct preference for riparian zones, floodplains, marshes and the shorelines of large rivers and lakes,” notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. It often nests in shade trees and open shrublands, in areas of “low-density human intrusion” such as farms and parks. Usually one of the last orioles to arrive on its breeding grounds, and one of the first to depart. Will often nest within home ranges of Baltimore and Bullock’s Orioles, and sometimes in the same tree. Nest is suspended, but is not as deep or as pensile as Baltimore’s. This species has expanded its range northward into Manitoba and Vermont, and westwards toward the Colorado foothills – but has declined in southeast New York, probably because of loss of orchards and farmland. It has also been declining in Texas and other parts of its western range, most likely because of loss of habitat. Cowbird parasitism may also be a factor. (BNA 255: 1, 4, 9, 12, 16)
Local history
“As one travels eastward along the northern shore of Lake Erie . . . one can observe the gradual thinning out of” of Orchard Orioles, Beardslee and Mitchell noted in the mid 1960s. “Few penetrate eastward as far as the Niagara River. Nevertheless, a few birds . . . are usually reported each year from western New York.” (B&M, p. 404)Eaton (1914) indicated it had nested at Holley in 1876 and at Brockport, and listed this as a rare summer resident in Monroe and Livingston counties, with no indication of occurrence in Wayne. (Eaton II: 237, I: county charts) The Holley record was reported by Neil Posson. Writing on “Some Birds of Unusual Occurrence in Orleans County, NY,” in 1899, he noted “several from gulch near Holley, in the spring of 1876.” (Auk 16: 195)This species doesn’t even appear in Horsey’s list of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913-1936, nor does it appear in Leo Tanghe’s breakdown of species seen during 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members within a 50-mile radius of Rochester from 1951-1954. In 1958, Edson reported only four Monroe County records since the turn of the century: one 4 July 1923 at Tryon Park; one 16 May 1950 (McKinney) at Charlotte; one at Webster (Kemnitzer) about 1953, and one on 24 June 1958 (O’Hara) also at Webster. (WBR, 30 June 1958; GNR) Outside the county, one on 19 May 1957 (Taylor) was at Conesus Lake. (KB 7:55) Even in 1961, after one turned up on Beach Avenue, Edson considered Orchard Oriole to be “so uncommon here as to be almost considered non-existent.” (WBR, 5 June 1961)Indeed, if not for the regular breeding colony discovered by Listman near Point Breeze, and for another pocket subsequently discovered near Geneseo, birders would be hard pressed to find this species every year. Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a sporadic, rare summer visitant. Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a rare to uncommon summer resident.
Occurrence
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) gave a range of dates from 18 April (1964) to 22 September.
Spring: This may be the best time to find this species away from its localized nesting areas. During May 1996, for example, there were reports from Durand-Eastman Park, Braddock Bay, and Retsof. (GOS, July/August 1996) May 1979 produced another good showing, with sightings at Pultneyville, Kendall, Hamlin Beach and Braddock Bay in addition to Point Breeze. (KB 29:147)
Summer/breeding status: This species has been recorded as breeding in virtually every county in central and western New York, Bull noted in 1974, but only sparsely. (Bull, p. 528) In our region it is a very localized breeder. Evidence of breeding continued to be found during the second BBA project near Point Breeze – despite the bulldozing of several overgrown orchards in 1987. (LG, September 1987) At least seven young were raised there in 1974. (KB24: 191) It is located along Lakeshore Road, in an area of “orchards, some active, some semi-abandoned and overgrown,” John Brown reported in 1977. That July, Glenn “Chip” Perrigo found the telephone wires there “lined with more than 20 orioles . . . Close to half of them were the uncommon Orchard orioles.” (BA, 27 July 1977)Listman was in a unique position to observe these birds. He lived there, in a house overlooking Lake Ontario. “The vegetation around the house includes fruit trees, evergreens and thick shrubbery, which seem to appeal to the orchard orioles,” Brown noted. “Listman believes at least three or four nesting pairs . . . are in the neighborhood.” (BA, 1 July 1982)This species also nested successfully near Norway Road, Kendall, in 1976 (BA, 26 May 1976; LG, June 1976), at Webster in 1981 (KB 31:240), at Blind Sodus Bay in 1984 (KB 34:244) and along South Avon Road in the Nation’s Road area in 2001 (field trip report, LG, July/August 2001) Three immatures on 8 July 1990 (R. Spahn) were at Huron, Wayne County. (GOS, September 1990) Cook Road in Hamlin has been another reliable spot to find these birds. (KB 47:200)Starting in 1996, breeding pairs were found near Geneseo, especially in the Roermer Arboretum where a pair raised at least one or two fledglings that year. A family of six was observed on 15 July 1997 (Kimball) at the arboretum. As many as nine birds were found that spring at five locations near Geneseo; the following year individuals were found “at nine distinct locations in the Geneseo area,” Fox reported.“Although this bird has historically been tallied primarily only in the old orchards on the Great Lakes Plains, the park-like pastoral Genesee River Valley is adequate habitat,” Fox notes. When Fox published his Birds of Livingston County in 1998, he was understandably cautious about the sudden of spurt of sightings during the last three years. “This may have been an unusually large number of birds in an ‘invasion’ year, or they may have been somehow undetected for many years in an oft-birded locale.” (Fox, p. 100.The Geneseo area has, in fact, turned out to be a productive breeding location for this species, and accounted for much of the increased evidence of breeding that occurred during the second Breeding Bird Atlas project.

Misc.
Listman was able to document a bizarre case of “kidnapping” when Orchard Orioles nested in the yard next to his home on Lakeshore Road in 1982. The pair picked out a severely pruned apple tree and built their nest in the crotch of a branch about 10 or 12 feet off the ground, John Brown related. The female incubated the eggs, and Listman could see four or five “little beaks stretched open.”That’s when an immature male Northern Oriole moved in and began taking over the feeding chores, and driving the parents away. “To complicate matters more. . .a female northern oriole also butted into the situation by flying onto the nest and settling down in an apparent attempt to brood the nestlings. She couldn’t do this, however, because the nest was too small, and, furthermore, the immature male northern oriole seemed to resent her intrusion and drove her away every time she showed up.”At last report, the young Northern Oriole male was in charge, and the Orchard Oriole parents had apparently abandoned the nest altogether. (BA, 1 July 1982)

Bullock’s Oriole

(formerly subspecies of Northern Oriole)Icterus bullockii
Durand-Eastman Park is a magnet for migrating birds. Moreover, many of the park’s roadways are located along the top of the ridges, so birds can often be observed at eye level as they forage through trees growing up the banks that fall off steeply to the side.“Look at that oriole,” Anne Stear called out to her birding companion, Kay Doris, on 7 May 1979 as they walked in the park.It was a Bullock’s Oriole, just about at eye level. “It was distracted by a female oriole deeper in the tree,” Anne recalled. “He was hopping around; he certainly wasn’t paying any attention to us.”  Fortunately, the oriole stayed around a section of Log Cabin Road near Lakeshore Boulevard for a couple of days, allowing several birders to see the region’s first record of a bird that, at that point, they could no longer add to their life list. Once a separate species, it had been lumped with Baltimore Oriole as a single new species, called Northern Oriole, just six years before. “For many local observers who have been looking for the bird for years, however, the change detracted little from finally seeing it,” John Brown noted. (BA, 9 May 1979) And, of course, those who saw it and were still keeping track of such things 16 years later, finally were able to add the bird to their lists when the AOU’s Committee on Classification and Nomenclature reversed itself and split Northern Oriole into three separate species: Bullock’s, Baltimore and Black-backed.
Background
This is a bird of open woodlands in the western U.S., especially where large cottonwoods, sycamores and willows are found along rivers, streams and other waterways. Because it hybridizes with Baltimore Oriole within a narrow area of overlapping ranges in the Great Plains, the two species were combined as one, Northern Oriole, in 1973, then subsequently split again in 1995. Vagrants are casual in the northeast U.S. Despite long-term declines according to BBS data, Bullock’s Oriole is not considered endangered or threatened. (BNA 416: 1-3, 12-13)
Status
Occasional, very rare visitor.
Occurrence
Only four records: 1. An adult male 7-9 May 1979 (Stear, mob) at Durand-Eastman Park. (KB 29:147) 2. One 21 August 1987 (Davids, C. Cass) at Manitou Beach. (KB 37:223) 3. One 10 May 2001 (Sherony, mob) at Braddock Bay. (KB 51:696) (Note: An adult male reported on 1 April 2001 at Manitou Road was not accepted by NYSARC. See KB 53:302. “The committee did not accept this record because the description would not allow complete separation with immature male Baltimore Orioles. The color of the supercilium and details of the face, bib, and back were inadequate to give a clear indication of the species. The bird was viewed from a long distance with minimal study time and it is not surprising that the observer had left some unanswered questions.”) 4. A first-spring male on 17-18 May 2007 (R. Spahn) at Webster Park. (LG, July/August 2007)

Baltimore Oriole

(formerly subspecies of Northern Oriole)Icterus galbula
On a July day in 1985, a late afternoon downpour brought welcome relief from the summer heat. Frank Dobson, settling into a chair on his back porch, immediately noticed a caterpillar, hanging by an invisible thread, that had apparently been dislodged by the rain, and was wriggling in midair just a foot or so above the ground. Dobson couldn’t resist watching its painfully slow ascent back toward the protective branches of a sycamore tree, all the while wondering how long it would take a bird to gulp it down. Forty minutes later, he had his answer. Ignored by House Sparrows, House Finches and American Goldfinches, even as it ascended only a few inches from a busy feeder, the caterpillar finally inched up among the branches. Then a Baltimore Oriole arrived on the other side of the tree. Its systematic foraging – “searching under loose bark, eyeing every leaf, even occasionally leaning over to examine the undersides of branches” – brought it even closer. And then, just as the caterpillar was about to regain its branch “Zap! Just one more snack in an oriole’s busy day.” (Birds, 4 August 1985)
Background
“Next to the Scarlet tanager he is probably our most gorgeously colored bird,” Eaton (1914) wrote of this colorful songbird with the distinctive, hanging, gourd-shaped nests. (Eaton II: 239) This familiar, colorful songster has adapted well to urban parks and suburban landscapes, and breeds throughout most of the eastern U.S. into southern and central Canada. It has spread into the western Great Plains where it uses cottonwoods along streams in shelterbelts and in towns. Some winter in Florida and along the Pacific Coast in California, but most migrate to the neotropics. It favors woodland edges, especially near streams, and open areas with scattered trees, preferring deciduous over coniferous when breeding. This species especially favored American elms in many areas. With the demise of the elms because of Dutch elm disease, orioles switched to American sycamores, cottonwoods and other large trees. Interestingly, the neatly woven, gourd-shaped nests are placed nearer the tips of branches in the east, where the threat of squirrels is greater, but nearer the trunks of trees on the Great Plains because of increased wind stress. These birds use a variety of habitats on their wintering grounds. During migration and winter, orioles will eat oranges and bananas at feeders, and sugar and water mixture at hummingbird feeders. BBS data show small but significant decreases in numbers over the entire range from 1980 to 1994. Evidence of hybridization with the western Bullock’s Oriole caused the two to be lumped as a single species, Northern Oriole, in 1983. They were split back into separate species in 1995. (BNA 384: 1, 4, 5, 7, 15, 23)
Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this an abundant summer resident in Monroe and Wayne counties, and common in Livingston. So sturdy are the nests, he added, that as many as three years’ worth of nests in various stages of dilapidation might be found hanging from branches. “By inspecting these trees it will be evident to nearly any bird student that from 3 to 5 pairs of orioles must inhabit each large block of our cities and villages, where shade trees are abundant.” Its favorite trees in western New York, in order of preference, seemed to be white elm, silver maple, sugar maple and apple. (Eaton I: county charts, II: 239, 241) R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of three to eight birds, with a maximum count of 30, on dates ranging from 1 May to 28 September.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 326 times from May through September, with average tallies reaching 7-10 the third week in May. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)In 1953, Tanghe considered this an abundant breeder in the Rochester area, and mentioned Mendon Ponds and Greece as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common summer resident and an occasional, very rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an occasional rare winter visitant and a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 19 April to 17 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 2 to 6 May. Subsequently, one on 15 April 1988 (Nicoletti) at Braddock Bay was record early (GOS, June 1988), tied by another one the same date in 2002 (D. Cass) at Brighton. (Addendum to July GNR) Edson timed their arrival with the opening of the cherry blossoms. (WBR, 9 May 1938) Indeed, 18 “flocking into the cherry blossoms with scattered Rose-breasted Grosbeaks” were quite a sight on 12 May 1997 in Badgerow Park. (Marcotte diary entry)
Spring maxima: 150+ on 6 May 2002 (Ewald, C. Cass) west spit, Braddock Bay. (GNR) 200 on 15 May 1971 (T. Tetlow) at Braddock Bay. (GNR) 630 to 650 on 17 May 1958, near Oklahoma Beach. Between 7 and 9 a.m. that morning, Mary Ann Sunderlin and the McNetts noted a “particularly heavy flight of small birds” in the vicinity of Oklahoma Beach. “Moving from east to west, they were flying low, some sticking close to the shoreline and others making short cuts across water toward farther points of land.” The Baltimore Orioles were among the Blue Jays, thrushes, tanagers, finches, sparrows and other migrants. (KB8:48; BA, 22 May 1958)
Summer/breeding status: Edson in 1938 wrote of them nesting on the outer most twigs of elms along city streets. (WBR, 9 May 1938) Most of the elms are gone, but the orioles remain. Well-adapted to residential areas and urban parks, they can be attracted to feeders by orange slices. Not surprisingly, evidence of breeding was found in nearly every block assigned to our region during the BBA projects.

Nests are often concealed until the leaves drop in fall, revealing the sturdy, pensile structures.
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 25 August to 8 October, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 2 to 10 September. Even later was one on 25 November 1983 (Davids) at Turning Point Park. (GNR)
Winter: After the first big snowfall of the season dumped several inches in early December 1969, Mrs. Stewart Kraft of 1422 Jackson Road, Penfield, looked out at her feeders and was surprised to find a Baltimore Oriole. The next day, two appeared.The “black and orange of the male oriole against the glistening white of new snow is a fairly spectacular sight,” John Brown noted. (BA, 4 December 1969; GNR)“With the advent and increase of feeding stations, particularly since the early 1950s,” Bull (1974) noted, there had been an increase in orioles lingering into winter. (Bull, p. 530) This has happened at least 11 times, starting with one that showed up at a feeder in Leo Tanghe’s Stone Road neighborhood 15-23 December 1957. (BA, 19 December 1957; GOS, January/February 1958)During the winter of 1959-60 one apparent female “had the good fortune to find the super-stocked feeder of Mrs. Helen C. Patterson at 171 Sagamore Drive early in February,” Brown reported. “There it has thrived on such exotic fare as sugarwater with orange juice added, a chopped fruit mixture of currants, grapes, banana and cooked cranberries and raw apples.”The bird “stands its ground on the feeder against all but jays, Starlings and squirrels.” (BA, 10 March 1960)Other wintering individuals were at Winona Boulevard (Leubner et al) on 1-21 December 1958 (KB 9:32, GNR), in both Greece (B. Barron fide Listman) and Irondequoit (N. Moon) in mid December 1972 (KB23: 90; GOS, February 1973), and on 12-13 December 1975 (F. and G. Phelps) at a Perinton feeder. (KB26: 103)Almost overlooked in the attention given to the Painted Redstart at the Dilgard’s Dansville feeder the winter of 1979-80 were one to two female orioles that visited the feeder at the same time. (KB30: 108; BA, 24 January 1980)Another was at a sunflower feeder in Greece (Mahon) 12-19 December 1982 (KB 33: 117, 119) and one was at Avon (L. Beidleman) from 1-31 December 1983. (KB 34:113) One was found dead on 3 January 1996 (Hartenstein) in Piffard (GOS, March 1996); a female was at a feeder in Spencerport (Frisch et al) from 9 December 2006 to 14 January 2007. (LG, February, March 2007)

Red-winged Blackbird

(formerly Red-wing)Agelaius phoeniceus
“It was not an afternoon to be looking for evidences of spring. Gray banks of stratocumulus clouds piled up from horizon to horizon, and only an occasional streak of dull yellow revealed the position of the setting sun. A damp and bitter wind blew steadily out of the west. Winter’s hold on the ice-bound open places in the marsh seemed unthreatened. “We were wondering . . . whether we might better give it up till another day. Then the first small flock of Red-winged blackbirds flew in overhead from the south and lighted in a piece of woods by the parkway. We could hear a chorus of call notes and occasional ‘congaree’ songs of scores of birds already there. It was a sound so vernal as to seem completely incongruous in that cold and somber setting.”John Brown, Birds Afield, 13 March 1958One of the welcome sights of spring occurs when the Red-winged Blackbirds take up their territories in the lakeside marshes, males clearly visible atop the cattails at regular intervals, singing “conk-a-ree” and flashing their colorful red epaulettes to claim territories and mates.
Background
This may be the most abundant bird in North America, breeding in marsh and upland habitats across most of North America. As many as 15 females have been observed nesting on the territory of a single male, “making this one of the most highly polygynous of all bird species.” Known for “gaping” – opening bill against resistance to expose insects and other prey within leaf sheafs and under sticks and stones. Nonbreeding flocks and roosts may contain millions of birds. During migration, however, these birds tend to fly side by side, rather than in columns, and flock size tends to be smaller. U.S. winter population was estimated at 190 million in 1974-75. Often considered a pest, damaging corn, for example, when it opens husks to eat kernels. (BNA 184: 1-2, 5, 11, 17, 18)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as an abundant summer resident in Monroe and Livingston counties, and common in Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of 10 to 100 birds, with a maximum count of 10,000, on dates ranging from 18 February to 15 November. He listed one winter date: 1 January 1920; however, in 1931, Horsey and Edson indicated “a few individuals often remain here all Winter.” (“Red-winged Blackbird First Migrant of Spring This Year,” D&C, 16 March 1931)When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 1,078 times and was a year-round presence, with 18 records during January and the first half of February. Average counts of 1,000-2,000 were reported third week of March. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B) In 1953 Tanghe considered this an abundant breeder in the Rochester area, and mentioned Irondequoit Bay and Ling Road as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, abundant summer resident and a regular, fairly common winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular fairly common to rare winter visitant, a regular abundant spring and fall transient and a regular abundant summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 19 February to 19 March, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 2 to 12 March. Subsequently, two on 5 February 2002 (I. Szabo fide Martin) at Mt Morris were even earlier “firsts of spring.” (GNR)“It swarms by the tens of thousands during the migrations and in immense concentrations at roosts,” Bull (1974) noted. (Bull, p. 526) “Flocks of spring and fall migrants, often numbering in the thousands, settle in for a night’s roost in the cattail marshes and swamps,” adds Fox in his account of this species in Livingston County. (Fox, p. 98)
Spring maxima: 169,500 from 5:30-7 p.m. on 30 March 1959 (R. Dobson), location not specified, but apparently Braddock Bay. (KB 10: 24) 100,000 on 4 April 1956 (Listman, O’Hara) at Braddock Bay were flying eastward along the lakeshore. Another 23,500 were tallied there the next day. (KB 6: 54; GOS, January/June 1956) 200,000 on 16 March 1976 (J. Skelly) at Chili. (LG, April 1976)
Even those totals are miniscule, however, compared to what happened at the Hinchey Road Roost in Gates in the late 1970s. (See European Starling) “The evening flight to the roost, although constant, takes up to an hour and a half on a cloudy evening,” reported Jeanne Skelly, who had studied and counted the birds roosting there for seven years. “In the morning it’s quite a different scene. The outpouring reaches almost frenzied proportions as the exodus reaches its peak.” On 1 April 1978 two other birders joined Skelly at 5:30 a.m. “For 20 minutes the sky was blackened with birds as they left for their feeding grounds for the day.” Based on three days of counts, Skelly estimated 2.5 million birds at the roost, of which an estimated 1,875,000 were Red-winged blackbirds.” (LG, April 1978)
Summer/breeding status: This remains one of our most common nesting birds, particularly in cattail marshes but also adapting to upland fields after loss of wetlands. (Levine, p. 546) Even the smallest patch of wet ground and cattails are put to use. During the second Breeding Bird Atlas project, two females, one carrying food in its bill, emerged from a tiny patch of cattails in the Genesee River gorge downtown, near Rochester Gas and Electric’s Environmental Lab off Suntru Street. The presence of only one male perplexed this birder, until he read about this species’ “highly polygynous” mating system.Not surprisingly, this was one of very few species for which evidence of breeding was found in every block assigned to our region during both Breeding Bird Atlas projects.

Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 26 October to 23 November, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 7 to 16 November.
Fall maxima: 40,000 on 22 October 1978 (F. Dobson) Greece. (GOS, December 1978) 75,000 on 8 November 1998 (R. Dobson, Gillette) at Crusoe Lake in Wayne County amid a huge gathering of blackbirds. (GOS, January 1999) 15,000+ on 19 November 1981 (Symonds) at Hamlin Beach SP. (LG, December 1981)
Winter: One in a swamp at Durand-Eastman Park on 1 January 1920 was the first recorded here in winter, Edson reported. (“Starlings Again Reported,” D&C, 14 January 1920) R. E. Horsey, in his additions to his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated this species had been “noted several times all winter 1937-38.” As many as 30 on 3-17 January 1953 (Listman, Van Beurden) were at Flynn Road (GNR) and 40 wintered in Ellison Park and the Dugway area (S. Taylor) during the 1963-64 season. (KB 14: 99)
Winter maxima: 4,500 on 1 December 1975 (J. Skelly) at Chili. (LG, January 1976) 238 on 26 December 1966 Rochester CBC. (GOS, February 1967) 260 on 20 January 1990 (Marcotte) at Greece. (GOS, March 1990) 250 on 11 February 1971 (C. Perrigo) at Brighton. (GNR) 10,000 on 18 February 1999 (D. Tetlow, Davids) at Galen during a mild month. (LG, April 1999)

Brown-headed Cowbird

Molothrus ater
Edson was “not at all pleased” to learn that “the little blue jewel of a cerulean warbler” was seen with an “overgrown glutton” twice its size at the Burroughs-Audubon preserve. (WBR, 14 July 1958) Anyone who has spent any time observing birds during the breeding season will sympathize. Edson’s Cerulean was feeding a young cowbird. The cowbird egg had been laid in the Cerulean’s nest for the smaller bird to incubate, and then nurture the nestling when it hatched. It is hard to remain detached when this happens: Warblers, vireos, thrushes and other woodland species, already declining due to loss of habitat on breeding and wintering grounds, may actually raise more cowbird young than their own in some areas where fragmentation of habitat allows cowbirds free reign. Outrage aside, one also can’t help sharing Edson’s bemused reaction upon observing a flock of several hundred Cowbirds in October 1943. He “could not help wondering who the foster parents of this horde were, how many were warblers, how many sparrows, etc. Certainly from their actions, calls, or in any other way it was impossible to determine their early training.” (WBR, 18 October 1943)
Background
Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species, usually smaller ones, who incubate the eggs, then brood and feed the nestlings, often at the expense of their own. This strategy evolved on the plains, where cowbirds fed on insects stirred up by herds of buffalo. When the herds moved on, the parents needed to move with them; hence the laying of eggs in the nests of smaller, sedentary species that, in turn, evolved countermeasures. Unfortunately, the leveling and fragmentation of the former unbroken forest in the eastern U.S. allowed cowbirds to reach and victimize woodland species that have not evolved defenses, with often devastating impact. Brown-headed Cowbirds are now summer or year-round residents in virtually all lower 48 states and north into Canada. Forest fragmentation has exposed “naïve” woodland species to their egg-laying parasitism, often significantly reducing reproductive success in the host species and in some places creating “population sinks” where host birds are unable to produce enough replacements of their own species. More than 220 species reportedly have been parasitized, with 144 known to have actually reared cowbird young. Females may lay up to 40 eggs per season. (BNA 47: 1, 8, 11)
Local history
Eaton (1914) recounted camping at Canandaigua Lake, and becoming “enthusiastic over the (Yellow-throated) vireos and the chats that sang to me every morning as I sat by the campside.” He eagerly anticipated the “fine brood of young ones” that might return the next season.Alas, “what was my disgust,” he related, when instead the Yellow-throated vireos were leading around “one disgusting Cowbird instead of their brood of young, and the chats deserted the hillside in the middle of July.” In 1910, he listed the cowbird as a common summer resident in Monroe, Wayne and Livingston counties. (Eaton II:228, I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of two to 10 birds, with a maximum count of 300, on dates ranging from 9 March to 30 November. “Occasional in winter, usually with English Sparrows,” he added.Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 654 times year round, including seven records during January and the first half of February. Average tallies of 100-200 were reported the third week of March and last half of September through October. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)In 1953, Tanghe described this as an abundant breeder in the Rochester area and mentioned the Burroughs-Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and Greece as locations where it had successfully parasitized host species. (GOS, May/August 1953)Bull (1974) listed Yellow Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Song Sparrow, American Redstart and Chipping Sparrow as the five most frequent victims out of 75 New York species known to have been parasitized by cowbirds. (Bull, p. 537)
Status
     The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, very common to abundant summer resident and a regular, fairly common winter visitant.    As for Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular rare to fairly common winter visitant, and a regular common spring and fall transient and summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 6 March to 13 April, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 20 March to 1 April. Subsequently, four on 19 February 1994 (Griffith) at Greece was an earlier “first” of the spring migration. (GOS, April 1994)     Like other members of the blackbird clan, migrating cowbirds gather in large flocks, often in association with other blackbirds.
    Spring maxima:     175,000 on 28 March 1978 (J. Skelly) at the Hinchey Road roost in Gates. (KB 28:172)    15,000 on 3 April 1960 (Listman) migrating at Manitou. (GOS, March/July 1960)
Summer/breeding status: Unfortunately, evidence of breeding was obtained in all but a handful of blocks assigned to our region during both BBA projects.

Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 10 October to 3 December, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 20 October to 6 November.As in spring, cowbirds can often be found in large flocks with other blackbirds.
Fall maxima: 20,000 on 8 November 1998 (R. Dobson, Gillette) at Crusoe Lake amid a huge gathering of blackbirds. (GOS, January 1999) 6,000+ on 30 November 1975 (J. Foster) roosting at Mendon Ponds Park. (GNR)
Winter maxima: 300 on 17 December 1966 (Listman) North Greece Road. (GOS, February 1967) 750+ on 26 January 2002 (D. Tetlow, Davids) at Honeoye Falls. (GNR) 300 on 11 February 1971 (C. Perrigo) at Brighton. (GNR) 200 on 18 February 1999 (D. Tetlow, Davids) at Galen. (GOS, April 1999)
Misc.
Banded birds: Bull (1974) indicated a cowbird banded at Rochester was shot more than a year later near Dayton, Texas. Dates were not given. (Bull, p. 539)

Rusty Blackbird

Euphagus carolinus    This birder’s most memorable encounter with this species occurred on a very chilly morning in early October 2007 as he wandered along a trail through Badgerow Park. He came to a sunlit patch of Red-osier Dogwood bushes, loaded with berries. As he approached, single blackbirds darted from the bushes nearest the path. He stopped and listened, as dozens of Rusty Blackbirds produced an absolute cacophony of noise from their perches hidden in trees on the other side of the path. Suddenly, Rustys began spilling into the dogwoods just a few feet away. Every conceivable combination of plumage was present: Some of the males were nearly all dark, with just a dusting of rufous on the edges of their feathers; others showed extensive golden brown on their heads and backs. And many of the females were almost entirely cinnamon in color. All had bright yellow eyes. The birds were intent on eating the small white dogwood berries. What a sight! As he turned his binoculars on the Rustys, the birder was struck by the colorful combination of dark, rusty-hued birds framed by the now-purplish leaves of the dogwoods, bright yellow eyes matched by the bright white berries hanging from branches or grasped in black bills. He desperately wished he had a camera!“In the spring and fall it is a pleasant sound to listen to the gurglings of these birds as they pass through the swamp from field to field and tree to tree in long scattered companies, keeping up a continual bubbling note suggestive of gushing springs and wandering waters,” Eaton (1914) observed. (Eaton II: 244)Edson, however, said the calls and songs “remind one of the squeaking of rusty hinges.” (WBR, 31 March 1941)This birder would definitely lean toward Edson’s description, after the earful he got that October morning!
Background
This is not a typical North American blackbird in several respects: 1) its breeding range lies the farthest north, in the wet forests just south of the tundra lines of Alaska and Canada and into the northeastern U.S., 2) it is more likely to occur in woodlands and 3) it seldom makes a nuisance of itself by damaging crops or forming huge roosts. Nesting along bogs, muskeg swamps and beaver ponds, its bulky, “robust, arboreal nests” are often reused by other species, including Solitary Sandpiper. BBS and CBC data suggest declines. However, population trends are hard to arrive at because of its remote breeding habitat, and its similarity to other blackbirds, especially in mixed species flocks. (BNA 200: 1, 10)    Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this an abundant migrant, especially in fall, in Monroe County, also occurring in Livingston and Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to 25 birds in spring, with a maximum count of 500, on dates ranging from 13 March to 11 May. In fall, average counts were one to 200 birds, with a maximum of 5,000, on dates ranging from 7 September to 21 December. One later record, on 4 January 1931.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 333 times, primarily as a migrant (125 records last half September through first half November; 112 records April through first week of May) with average tallies reaching 70 to 100 birds. However, also reported throughout the winter months, including eight records during January and the first half of February. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)     Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, very common spring and fall transient; an irregular, uncommon winter visitant and a casual, rare summer visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular rare winter visitant, an irregular fairly common to rare spring transient and a (presumably regular) fairly common to rare fall transient.
Occurrence
     Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 17 February to 17 April, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 15 March to 5 April. In most years had departed by 9 May, with a late departure date of 24 May.     Fox notes that migrants are often found in the vicinity of swamps. (Fox, p. 99)
     Spring maxima:       100 on 7 March 1998 (R. Dobson, Gillette) Wayne County. (GOS, May 1998)      500 on 30 March 1977 (Kemnitzer) at Manitou. (GOS, May 1977)      600 on 31 March 2005 (mob) at Braddock Bay when the “flood gates opened” for a delayed spring migration. (LG, May 2005)      200 on 2 April 1973 (N. Moon) Reed Road sanctuary. (GOS, June 1973)      885 on 8 April 2007 (D. Tetlow) Parma to Carlton when record snowfall forced grounded migrants to bare roadsides. (LG, June 2007)      300 on 10 April 1952 (Listman) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, May/August 1952)      200 on 19 April 1975 (B. and M. McKinney) at Braddock Bay. (GOS, June 1975)      100 on 24 April 1977 (Sherony) at Fairport. (GOS, June 1977)      500 on 30 April 1960 (Listman) at Manitou. (GOS, March-July 1960)      Max. 100 during 1-22 May 1948, lakeshore. (GOS, May/July 1948)      100 on 9 May 1978 (R. Dobson, N. Henderson) Island Cottage. (GNR)
Summer: Two at Manitou on 5 June 1969 (Listman) were extremely late stragglers (KB19: 216); one of the birds seemed injured. One lingered even later – 9 June 1973 (Listman) – at Braddock Bay. (KB23: 196) Especially intriguing was a report of eight at Springwater (H. Hamilton) on 30 June 1985. (KB35: 266) This was later rejected by NYSARC. (KB 37: 204)      Yet another was reported “far out-of-date” on 7 July 1979 (R. and S. Spahn) at Perinton. (KB29: 217)
    Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 24 August to 30 September with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 14 to 20 September. Subsequently, one on 16, 19 August 2007 (Nutter, McGuire, Keil) at the Marten Tract, Savannah, was record early. (LG, October 2007) Also early, four to five on 22 August 1993 (Seager) at Charlotte (GOS, October 1993) and two on 23 August 1998 (F. Dobson) at Buck Pond, Greece. (GOS, October 1998)In most years had departed by 16 November, with a late departure date of 3 December. Fall birds live up to the name, showing varying degrees of rich rusty edging on their feathers.
      Fall maxima:       1500+ on 13 October 1996 (R. Dobson, Gillette) at Crusoe Lake. (GOS, December 1996)        900 on 18 October 1952 (Listman, Van Beurden) along the west lakeshore. (GNR)      1,200 on 18 October 2005 (D. Tetlow) at Salmon Creek. (LG December 2005)      1,000+ on 31 October 1982 (F. and R. Dobson) Round/Buck ponds, Greece. (GOS, December 1982)       1,000 on 8 November 1998 (R. Dobson, Gillette) at Crusoe Lake along with hundreds of thousands of starlings and other blackbirds. (GOS, January 1999)
Winter: “Possibly the most interesting bird seen” on the Rochester CBC on 21 December 1930 was a Rusty Blackbird “found in the marshes in the vicinity of Float Bridge,” Horsey and Edson reported in their weekly bird column. “They naturally go South in November as soon as the marshes freeze over, but this bird landed in a marsh that never entirely freezes over, and, as it can live on seeds . . .it should not suffer from hunger and thirst.” (“Christmas Census of Birds Discloses Twenty-one Kinds,” D&C, 29 December 1930)Ling Road marsh provided a haven for these birds during the winter of 1956-57. (KB 7:19) Twenty wintered in Irondequoit and Penfield (Miller et al) during the 1962-63 season. (KB13: 107) Gertrude Davis reported 9-14 coming to her Penfield feeder regularly in January 1964. (GOS, March 1964; BA, 23 January 1964)
     Winter maxima:      87 on 16 December 2001 (D. Bassett) lingered at Braddock Bay for the Rochester CBC– 90 were tallied in the whole circle – and a dozen stayed into January. (KB 52:153)      75 on 27 December 1952 at Flynn Road Greece. (KB2: 93)      75 on 28 February 1954 (Van Beurden, Corcoran) at Ling Road. (GOS, January/February 1954)

Brewer’s Blackbird

Euphagus cyanocephalus
In October 1960, columnist John Brown advised local birders that “ a careful study of . . . blackbird flocks could some day turn up a record of the western Brewer’s blackbird, which in recent years has been extending its range eastward from the west coast. It has been found in Ohio and Ontario.” (BA, 27 October 1960)Twenty-one years later, Mike Davids fulfilled Brown’s prophecy. But it wasn’t by scanning large flocks of blackbirds. Instead, noting this species’ eastward expansion in Ontario, Canada, Mike Davids checked the most logical habitat where these birds might be expected to show up: cow pastures. And that’s where he found “four strangely acting blackbirds on the last day of March (1981) in that now-famous cowyard on Brick School House Road,” Steve Taylor reported. “He could not get an adequate look at the birds on that day . . .” however, on 1 April “the light was good and the birds were cooperative.” Davids put out the alert to area birders. “In the ensuing days, these birds not only remained in that cowyard, they managed to attract others of their kind until at least 17 could be counted at any one time.” The numbers peaked at 23 that month – 17 males and six females. (LG, May 1981; KB 31:165)However, despite almost yearly sightings, this species hasn’t given any indication that it is breeding here.
Background
This iridescent western bird with piercing yellow eye was not recorded nesting east of Minnesota before 1914. Over the next four decades, “it undertook a rapid, leap-frog patterned eastward expansion of its breeding range, extending nesting populations approximately 1,200 km,” notes Stephen G. Martin in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. Now colonies can be found breeding in scattered locations – “very locally” – in southern Ontario Province. “The pioneering birds took advantage of forest clearing and land conversion to agriculture, and followed linear highway, railroad and utility corridors to penetrate unfavorable barriers and reach new areas of appropriate breeding habitat . . . Today, the Brewer’s Blackbird is viewed as a model for understanding avian range expansions promoted by human alterations in habitat.” This expansion has brought the Brewer’s Blackbird into the same range as Common Grackle. Interestingly, Brewer’s Blackbird has displaced the larger grackles in various grassland habitats but not in urban and suburban areas, just as Common Grackle, similarly expanding west, has displaced Brewer’s Blackbird from urban and suburban areas but not grasslands at the base of the Rocky Mountains. Most Brewer’s Blackbirds in the east nest on the ground; those in the west above ground. Though BBS data shows a decreasing population trend, this is not considered a threatened species. (BNA 616: 1-3, 16, 24-25)
Local history
“Mysteriously, the Brewers Blackbirds which had been so cooperative in April (1981), disappeared with the turning of the calendar page,” Steve Taylor noted. “No report of these birds was received for May.” (LG, June 1981) An immature was found, however, on 17 November that year by Listman and Davids. (GOS, January 1982)They were seen again in March 1982 in the same place and numbers peaked at 24 the following month. (GOS, June 1982) Another six to 22 were reported from 1 to 24 April 1983. (LG, May 1983) In March 1985, the Little Gull advised its readers that “2-30 birds have been present in cattle feed lots along Brick Schoolhouse Road near Hamlin-Parma Townline Road and Walker Road, near Church Road in Hamlin for the past several years. First birds arrive during late March and are present up to the end of April.”Despite “much display and high hopes,” the BBA could produce evidence of only probable breeding in this block (KB 31:165), the only such evidence in the entire state. However, by 1994, this species was “barely hanging on in the area,” Bill Symonds indicated. (LG, May 1994) And it apparently has not yet expanded its breeding range into New York state. The second BBA project found no evidence of breeding anywhere in the state.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an irregular, rare to fairly common visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a casual very rare winter visitant.
Occurrence
Reported almost yearly, and, at least initially, usually within two to three miles of the first sighting. One to two on 1-8 May 1992 along Church Road, for example, marked “the eleventh consecutive year Mike has discovered Brewer’s Blackbird in this area.” (LG, June/July 1992)Most sightings are in spring and early summer.Seen in greatly reduced numbers since the mid 1980s. However, 12 males and two females were along Brick Schoolhouse Road in Hamlin from 21 March 1999 into April when this species was being reported throughout the Northeast. (LG, May 1999)Another influx occurred on 11 April 2007 (D. Tetlow, B. Carlson) when 18 males and 9 females were in the same general area. (LG, June 2007) Elsewhere, one 31 March 1988 (Boudrie, Clarridge) was at Sodus (GOS, May 1988), another 15 April 1996 (Donna Traver) at Kendall (KB 46: 235), on 14 March 1996 (O’Hara) and 6 May 1977 (O’Hara) at Manitou (KB 46: 235, 47: 204) and a female on 13 March 2006 (R. Spahn) at Carlton, which appears to be the record early date. (LG, May 2006)
Fall: There are two records in October, and the November sighting mentioned above. Winter: One on 8 December 1988 (O’Hara) was at Manitou (GOS, February 1989) during a mild winter; another 1 January 1994 (D. and H. Lown) was at Nation’s Road during a cold winter (KB44: 124; Fox, p. 99); a female 6 and 12 January 2004 (D. Tetlow, R. and C. McKinney) was at Leicester (GOS, April 2004); a male 8, 9 January 2005 (D. Tetlow, Davids) was at Hamlin (LG, March 2005) and a male 17 January 2007 (D. Tetlow, Davids) was at Geneseo. (LG, March 2007)

Common Grackle

(formerly Bronzed Grackle)Quiscalus quiscula
“The prize for the most noise this breeding season belongs to the common grackles,” Frank Dobson wryly observed in the summer of 1987. “They turned up (in his yard) in record numbers, with youngsters screeching for a handout from dawn till dusk.” (Birds, 12 July 1987) Indeed, one of the most common questions encountered by birders who give talks is: How do we get rid of the grackles? They make a mess in our yards and swimming pools, they eat all the bird seed and they chase the other birds away.Alas, this is nothing new.Eaton (1914) had little use for these brash, noisy birds. “My experience on a single farm will serve to show what my general estimate of this bird would be,” he wrote. The farm, which included orchard, pond, brook, meadows, pasture and a large lawn with shade trees and evergreens “was the happy home of numerous robins, Least flycatchers, Yellow warblers, Chipping sparrows, Song sparrows, Purple finches, Cedar birds, cuckoos and other useful species.” As soon as the evergreens were tall enough to provide nesting sites for grackles, these “crow blackbirds” moved in. “At first the owner thought all was going well, but he noticed that the robins, sparrows and other birds were not on friendly terms with the grackles. . .”Indeed, as long as the grackles stayed, few if any of the other species were able to raise their broods because of the persistent “attacks” of the grackles. Numerous nests “had been rifled and showed clearly from their general appearance that they had been visited by grackles or some other nest robbers. . .” As soon as the grackles had raised their young and left the premises, the other species managed to bring off their broods successfully, “but in this instance it meant only one brood instead of two . . .” (Eaton II: 249-250)
Background
The clearing of the eastern forests for agriculture provided nesting habitat and food, enabling this conspicuous blackbird with the keel-shaped tail to expand its range and numbers. Mechanical harvesting of crops, in particular, with added spillage, increased its food supply, increasing its ability to survive in winter. Moreover, increased planting of shelterbelts helped it spread across the Plains states, into the western mountains and valleys of Colorado, for example, by the early 1990s. It is now one of the most significant agricultural pests, “causing millions of dollars in damage to sprouting corn.” “Extremely opportunistic and resourceful at finding food on ground, in trees, and in water” – even taking hardened pieces of bread, placing them in water and then consuming them after they have softened! BBS data suggests a 32.4 percent decline in eastern populations from 1966 to 1993, but increasing in the west. Formerly divided into two separate species, Bronzed and Florida, with Purple Grackle considered a subspecies of the latter. (BNA 271: 1-3, 5, 14)
Local history
Even in Eaton’s time (1910) they were considered abundant summer residents in Monroe County, and common in Livingston and Wayne. (Eaton I: county chart) R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of 25 to 75 birds, with a maximum count of 5,000, on dates ranging from 27 February to 21 November. “Occasional in winter,” he added. In 1933 and again in 1948, Edson rued the fact that so many crows – which had been a “natural check” on the grackle population – had been shot, allowing grackles to increase at the expense of other songbirds. (“Bronzed Grackle and Cowbird Spring Arrivals in Vicinity,” D&C, 20 March 1933; WBR, 22 March 1948)When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-54, this species was reported 796 times and was a year-round presence, with eight records from January into the first half of February. Average counts of 100-200 were reported third week in March; 200-300 in October. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)In 1953, Tanghe considered this an abundant breeding species in the Rochester area, specifically mentioning Highland Park and Manitou Beach as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)In 1961 they seemed to be “steadily increasing,” Howard Miller noted. (KB11: 47) “Their numbers have increased considerably in recent years,” Beardslee and Mitchell concurred in the mid 1960s. (B&M, p. 408) By 1971, Richard O’Hara noted, “some local lists now are showing Common Grackles outnumbering (Red-winged Blackbirds) in areas where the reverse had always been true.” (KB21: 221) This has not been welcome news, even for birders. In addition to their predations on other bird species, grackles nest in noisy colonies in spruce and other evergreens in residential areas in early spring. They become an especial nuisance when they and their fledglings leave droppings in backyard swimming pools.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, very common summer resident and a regular, uncommon winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular rare winter visitant, a regular common spring and fall transient and a regular very common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 17 February to 26 March, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 6 to 16 March. Migrating birds can be found in large flocks.
Spring maxima: 91,700 from 5:30-7 p.m. on 30 March 1959 (R. Dobson), location not specificied but apparently Braddock Bay. (KB 10:24) 100,000 on 28 March 1978 (J. Skelly) at the Hinchey Road roost in Gates. (LG, April 1978; see European Starling for more on roost) 40,000 on 16 March 1976 (J. Skelly) in Chili. (LG, April 1976)
Summer/breeding status: In June 2003, this birder dropped by the Broad Street bridge downtown to try to confirm the nesting of Rough-winged Swallows. His attention was soon drawn, however, to a Spotted Sandpiper on a rock ledge, right next to the river beneath the Community War Memorial. The birder hurried over, leaned over the railing at the top of the old stone retaining wall, and was startled when a grackle suddenly flew out from the wall, seemingly under the birder’s very nose.He looked down, directly into the top of a grackle’s nest with an egg and a recently hatched young. The nest had been placed against the side of the sheer wall where a single old weed stem extended just far enough to provide support.More commonly, grackles are found nesting in loose colonies where there are evergreen trees, especially in residential areas. Not surprisingly, atlasers had no difficulty finding, and confirming the breeding of this ubiquitous species during the BBA projects.

Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 3 October to 30 November, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 17 to 30 October.    Large flocks form again in late summer and fall.
   Fall maxima:     10,000+ on 11 October 1980 (Lloyd, Sunderlin) at Webster. (KB 31:28)    30,000 on 24 October 1965 (Brown, Kemnitzer, Sunderlin) at Sodus Bay. (GOS, December 1965)    30,000 on 8 November 1998 (R. Dobson, Gillette) at Crusoe Lake amid a huge gathering of blackbirds and cowbirds. (GOS, January 1999)
Winter: “The alarm clock failed to awaken one bronzed grackle, or crow blackbird, in time for him to go South with the rest of his companions,” Edson reported in December 1937. The bird was “staying around in the vicinity of Glen Haven” with Red-winged Blackbirds. The grackle, he reported, “is very seldom represented here in winter.” (WBR, 13 December 1937)However, small numbers of wintering grackles are no longer considered that unusual. For example, two were seen “coming to roost in the Braddock’s Marshes” along with 30 Red-winged Blackbirds and 30 Brown-headed Cowbirds on 24 January 1960. (GOS, March/July 1960)
   Winter maxima:    150 from 19-31 January 1971, Pittsford. (KB 21:79)
Misc.
John Brown of Scottsville did find one good thing about these birds. “In defense of the rascally Grackles, however, it might be mentioned that we had a pretty good infestation of grubs in the lawn and early in the spring the Grackles and Starlings worked it over inch by inch. There are no bare spots, and it’s growing like mad.” (BA, 10 June 1971) Dobson had exactly the same observation that summer of 1987. “Despite their noise and aggressiveness, grackles do a job on the insect population. Sometimes they would march shoulder to shoulder across the lawn, gleaning bugs as they proceeded and feeding begging fledglings on the spot.” (Birds, 12 July 1987) Esther Bushnell of Irondequoit was perplexed when the mothballs she put in her flower beds to deter slugs and insects began disappearing in 1993. Then she saw a grackle pick up a mothball in its bill and start rubbing it through its feathers. “Mystery solved!” Frank Dobson noted. “But how did the grackle know the mothball aroma would repel insects?” (Birds, 1 August 1993) Two years later, a Pittsford man reported the same behavior, with the birds either rolling on the mothballs or rubbing them on their feathers. (Birds, 23 July 1995) In addition to mothballs, these birds use walnut juice, lemons and limes, marigold blossoms, and chokecherries for anting to rid body of parasites. (BNA 271: 7)

Boat-tailed Grackle

Quiscalus major
Mike Davids indeed had reason to feel grateful on Thanksgiving Day 1980. That afternoon he found a grackle in a tree along Frisbee Hill Road near East Manitou Road that stood out from any other grackle he had seen here. It was the first Boat-tailed Grackle ever recorded in our region. Best of all, it stayed in the area until 8 December, “patronizing local feeders” and providing ample opportunities to be photographed and otherwise documented. “Seen with common grackles, it stood out as a much larger bird with a correspondingly bigger tail,” John Brown reported. (BA, 4, 11 Dec 1980; KB 31:28, 92)
Background
This large blackbird of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts has a unique mating system: Females gather in large colonies, or “harems,” which are then defended by high-ranked males that breed there. However, many matings occur when females temporarily leave the colony and mate with lower-ranking males. The cinnamon-colored female is only about half the size of the male and looks like it should be a separate species. This species expanded its range up the Atlantic Coast to as far as New York, and inland into northwest Florida. It appears to have decreased in some parts of Texas, perhaps because of competition from Great-tailed Grackle. Most populations are relatively sedentary, but some dispersal occurs north of breeding zone. Most records north of Connecticut are probably hurricane related. Populations appear stable. (BNA 207: 1-3, 12-13, 21)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a casual, very rare visitant.
Occurrence Three records: 1. One male 26 November – 8 December 1980 (Davids, mob) Greece. (KB 31: 28, 92) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB: 31: 209) 2. One male 19 September 1981 (Davids, Listman, mob) at Braddock Bay. Mike Davids and Walt Listman “got a good look at it, then pursued it into underbrush where they heard it give several low-pitched notes,” John Brown reported. “Davids thinks it was very possibly the same bird that was at a feeder along Frisbee Hill Road for several days last winter. He studied that bird on several occasions.” (BA, 24 Sept 1981; KB 32:42) 3. One male on 19 April 2004 (D. Tetlow) at East Spit, Braddock Bay. (KB 54:229)

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse