Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)
Place: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Date: January 2003
Equipment: Nikon N90S, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8 & TC20E (= 600/5.6), tripod
Film: Fujichrome Sensia 100
Exposure: Aperture priority matrix metered
Scan: Minolta Dimage, minor crop on right only

Commentary: My tendencies as a birder are to disregard abundant birds easy to see, and consider them "trash" birds. But as a photographer I try to see the beauty in every bird I encounter, and I try to take advantage of birds in photographically interesting settings.

The Great-tailed Grackle is the western counterpart of the Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major) seen along the US coast from Long Island, NY, to eastern Texas. The great-tailed is not tied to the coast like the boat-tailed, and has expanded into farm and urban areas throughout the southwest where it has become a major pest.