Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)

This is an adult female. This species has recently colonized this area where there is now a small breeding colony at the south end of the Lake. They were first recorded in California 1964 along the Colorado River with first nesting in the 1980's. Birds in Northern California are presumably the smaller western "Q. m. nelsoni" but the larger more easterly "Q. m. monsoni" is reported to have reached California in the 1980's. The two apparently form a hybrid zone in the Southern California deserts.