There were lots of Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) foraging Friday at Huntley Meadows Park and I was thrilled when one of the stood still for a moment and I was able to snap off this shot. At times grackles appear to be almost pure black, but when the light is right, they shimmer with shades of green and pink.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful nearly purple hues!
Love the pose. We don’t have Grackles to speak of here in the Tucson area, but I spent many a year with the nosy birds in Texas. They can be very nosy, especially where a large number of them are roosting in the same tree.
We had a pretty big flock of grackles and, yes, they were making quite a racket.
I love watching the colours of the grackles’ feathers as they move around and the light catches them at different angles. With their sleek contours and beady eyes, they are really striking birds. Your portrait captures everything I like about them.
Thanks, Laura. You and I are attracted to the same features of the grackle. It’s so rare for me to get an unobstructed shot of a grackle that I felt compelled to share this one.
I’m surprised you found one that was sitting still!
It doesn’t happen often and it didn’t last long–grackles seem to be in constant motion almost every time that I see one.