No clue what bird this is? (1 Viewer)

[CatTheCat0703]

Today we were cleaning and tossed some old pretzels and seeds out for the birds when we came across this weird looking bird we’ve never seen before. I wasn’t able to snap a fantastic picture of it, but it was definitely much bigger than the grackles and mourning doves. It was also pretty aggressive and kept fighting the other birds trying to grab a bite. Any ideas? This is south central Texas btw and I’m just lost as to what bird it could be.

 

[nartreb]

It looks just like an immature male boat-tailed grackle, which in your location should mean it's an immature male great-tailed grackle. (Unless you're close to the coast and the Louisiana border, then it might actually be boat-tailed.)

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum. I hope you enjoy your visits.

 

[CatTheCat0703]

It looks just like an immature male boat-tailed grackle, which in your location should mean it's an immature male great-tailed grackle. (Unless you're close to the coast and the Louisiana border, then it might actually be boat-tailed.)

We live a long ways from the coast, but I agree that it is a juvenile bird of some sort. But he was next to a male great-tailed grackle and he towered over him so I’m not so sure. He has stripes over his eyes and a white-ish throat. Super long legs too.

 

[Butty]

Welcome to BF.
Great-tailed grackle standing with its legs stretched.

 

[nartreb]

Great-tailed is actually usually longer than boat-tailed, measured tip to tail, though that can be hard to judge (about half the length is tail and some of the rest is beak) and there's a lot of overlap in other measurements. "Towering over" just does not compute, unless either a) Butty is right, and the immature bird was up on tippy-toe while the adult was crouching, or b) you were mistaken about the male grackle you compared it to. If that was actually a common grackle, then you'd see a clear size difference.

 

[delia todd]

Hi CatTheCat and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi CatTheCat and a warm welcome to you from Myrtle Beach Enjoy !!

 

[rkj]

We live a long ways from the coast, but I agree that it is a juvenile bird of some sort. But he was next to a male great-tailed grackle and he towered over him so I’m not so sure. He has stripes over his eyes and a white-ish throat. Super long legs too.

Do you have any photos of both together?