Common grackle

Grackles are some of the first blackbirds to return in spring, arriving in noisy flocks in March and April. In the right light, a common grackle is anything but plain black, with purple, bronze, and green iridescence across the head and body, and a pale yellow eye that gives it a fierce look.

They walk with a confident strut across lawns and fields, feeding on insects, seeds, and waste grain, and they nest in loose colonies in conifers and dense shrubs. In flight the long tail is shaped like a keel. In fall, grackles gather in huge flocks before heading south, and a few stay in southern Manitoba through mild winters.

Here is one of my favourite frames of this bird.

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