Great-tailed Grackle male in a pine close up – Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f10, 1/800, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
When I photographed this Great-tailed Grackle male in a pine yesterday I was torn between focusing on taking photos of him and laughing out loud. I did both.
The male Great-tailed Grackles have been putting on a show at a pond close to where I live. There is a lot of posturing, bill pointing, and more than a few have been walking around with their chests all puffed up. It is Great-tailed Grackle breeding season here in northern Utah and the males are certainly exhibiting behaviors that indicate that it is.
While I photographed other birds yesterday morning it was the grackles that kept drawing my attention. They make a lot of sounds. Loud sounds. Raucous sounds. The grackles are hard to ignore.
When I saw this male Great-tailed Grackle in the pine there was another male in the tree with him. The other male was mostly hidden from my view so I focused on this guy. Then I got this look from him for three frames and the phrase “Whatchu lookin’ at” came to my mind which made me laugh.
I couldn’t help myself. Viewing this image on my larger screen at home made me laugh all over again.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Great-tailed Grackle photos plus facts and information about this species.
He sure had an attitude!
Great pic! Reminds me of my wife watching me when we go to Costco. Thanks Mia
Are YOU. Lookin’ at ME. ?? 😉
I love the look. Many birds especially shore birds can actually see around their beak into their open mouth. Starlings can too. If we get a juvenile starling for release at my house I will have you come over and look. It is crazy looking to open the birds beak and see it looking at you with both eyes.
It is interesting that its eye sockets are mobile enough to provide binocular depth vision to focus on the end of its bill.
Laughed before I scrolled done to read.
Love it!
Thank you for this photo! Definitely my laugh for the day!