To further elaborate on Angus' post of yesterday, the "warm, brown" color of these birds is a much better fit for female Boat-tails than Rusty Blackbirds. Winter Rustys tend towards gray, rather than brown and even in fall birds which have a lot of brown to them, the brown color is on the feather edges giving them a scalloped look rather than the uniform coloring of the birds in your photos. Additionally, most Rustys should show a fairly prominent yellow eye rather than the dark eyes on most of these birds. Also fall/winter Rustys would generally show some sort of supercilium, which appears to be totally lacking in your birds. I also agree with Angus that the birds which best show their bills in profile have a bill that looks much more grackle like than the shorter bill of a Rusty. I can understand the difficulty some are having with the tail length, but first, remember, female Boat-tails have shorter tails than males and second, immatures, which many of these birds may be, tend to have shorter tails than adults. Finally, as Angus also points out the location/habitat for these birds is exactly where you would expect to find a flock of Boat-tailed Grackle on Long Island in winter and is all wrong for Rusty Blackbird and the number of birds you report might well be unprecedented for Long Island in midwinter.
Joe DiCostanzo <http://www.greatgullisland.org> www.greatgullisland.org From: bounce-112709789-3714...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-112709789-3714...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Taylor, Robert Michael Sent: Monday, February 24, 2014 11:15 AM To: Voisine, Matthew NAN02; Robert Taylor; nysbirds-l Cc: Taylor, Robert Michael Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] [nysbirds-l] Jones Beach West End/ Meadowbrook Parkway Sunday: Rough Legged Hawk, Blackbirds (not Rusty) (UNCLASSIFIED) Hi Matthew, I have to admit I'm not an expert an Icterids - I'm mostly a duck kinda guy. I've been getting differences of opinion between Boat Tailed Grackles and Rusty Blackbirds. The first day most people were saying Rusty Blackbirds, now most people are saying Boat Tailed Grackles. I've seen Boat Tailed Grackles before and seeing these bunch of blackbirds I thought they seemed different. I can post more pics when I get home later. Do you have an idea what they are? At this point, I'm going by what more experienced birders are telling me (and I appreciate the help) Thanks, Rob in Massapequa (currently working in NYC) http://longislandbirding.blogspot.com/2014/02/jones-beach-west-end-meadowbro ok-parkway.html From: bounce-112709705-60311...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-112709705-60311...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Voisine, Matthew NAN02 Sent: Monday, February 24, 2014 11:04 AM To: Robert Taylor; nysbirds-l Cc: Voisine, Matthew NAN02 Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] [nysbirds-l] Jones Beach West End/ Meadowbrook Parkway Sunday: Rough Legged Hawk, Blackbirds (not Rusty) (UNCLASSIFIED) Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE How could they be Boat-tailed? The tails are way too short. Matthew Voisine Biologist USACE- NY District 26 Federal Plaza Room 2151 NY, NY 10278 917.790.8718 voice 702.271.0496 mobile 212.264.0961 fax matthew.vois...@usace.army.mil -----Original Message----- From: bounce-112701081-8614...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-112701081-8614...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Taylor Sent: Monday, 24 February, 2014 0:25 To: nysbirds-l Subject: [EXTERNAL] [nysbirds-l] Jones Beach West End/ Meadowbrook Parkway Sunday: Rough Legged Hawk, Blackbirds (not Rusty) Hi Everyone, Thanks for everyone's help with the blackbird ID from yesterday - most are saying they were Boat Tailed Grackles and not Rusty Blackbirds. Speaking of blackbirds, at Jones Beach West End and by Meadowbrook Parkway I saw Red Wing Blackbirds and Boat Tailed Grackles. At the Coast Guard Marina I saw the same waterfowl as Saturday - a female bufflehead and 2 Horned Grebes as well as 2 Common Loons and Brant. There were more birds on the median today: Killdeer, Juncos, Mockingbirds. I met a very pleasant couple looking for a light phase/ghost Northern Harrier, but we found a typical one over the dunes. A crowd was gathered observing a Snowy Owl. Along the Meadowbrook, I saw the previously reported Rough Legged Hawk and also 3 Red Tailed Hawks. Good birding, Rob in Massapequa pic of the Rough Legged Hawk etc on my blog <http://longislandbirding.blogspot.com/> http://longislandbirding.blogspot.com/ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics < <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information < <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave < <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive < <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds < <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> BirdingOnThe.Net < <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> Please submit your observations to eBird < <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> ! -- Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE -- NYSbirds-L List Info: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> Please submit your observations to <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> eBird! -- This email is confidential and subject to important disclaimers and conditions including on offers for the purchase or sale of securities, accuracy and completeness of information, viruses, confidentiality, legal privilege, and legal entity disclaimers, available at http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/disclosures/email. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> Surfbirds BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> Please submit your observations to <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> eBird! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
