Rusty Blackbird?

[John Carroll]

A friend in my birding group saw this bird on the ground around his feeders on Tuesday in Central NJ. Yes I have permission to post these photos. He suspected an juvenile Grackle and I a Rusty Blackbird but neither of us have ever ID’d a Rusty. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

[Birding Boy]

Yes, Rusty Blackbird! Note the yellow eye and, well, rusty coloration. And the short tail separating it from a grackle. Also, there would not be any juveniles this time of year.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Birding Boy
Rustly blackbird sounds cool but is an autocorrect induced species...

[DLecy]

100% a Rusty Blackbird. An immature Common Grackle would have much larger heavier bill, and less bright rusty tones to the plumage among other things. 

And I believe all HY birds resemble adults in plumage by this time of year, as there is no Basic I Plumage for Common Grackles. I could only find very few images on eBIrd of presumed HY birds who had delayed molt strategies, the latest of which went into December/Jan.

 

[Jefferson Shank]

Definitely a Rusty!

[IKLland]

yes, that's a rusty!

[Charlie Spencer]

Blast it.  I had a flock of a few hundred dark ground feeders yesterday.  Most were Common Grackles, but there were also robins and cowbirds in there.  I didn't think of Rustys and may have missed them among the cowbirds.

[John Carroll]

Charlie that's the exact scenario that my buddy described when he saw the Rusty. I sometimes have to force myself to look more closely at the brown birds because you never know what you might find in there. Its tough to do most time though.

[Charlie Spencer]

2 hours ago, John Carroll said:

Charlie that's the exact scenario that my buddy described when he saw the Rusty. I sometimes have to force myself to look more closely at the brown birds because you never know what you might find in there. Its tough to do most time though.

I feel better knowing 90% of yesterday's birds were well over 100 feet away, and I had to pay as much attention to the vehicular traffic as I did the birds.

[Mindy Smith]

Just wanted to add - lovely photos of the Rusty. I am still looking for one. Also, birding while kayaking is almost as bad as driving - I keep drifting off when trying to take photos.

[Charlie Spencer]

19 minutes ago, Mindy Smith said:

Just wanted to add - lovely photos of the Rusty. I am still looking for one. Also, birding while kayaking is almost as bad as driving - I keep drifting off when trying to take photos.

I selected a kayak as an anniversary bonus at work.  My intent was to use it on flat water to get access to areas not easily reachable from land.  I found it to be an unstable platform for photography, and being down so low meant birds on the water's surface were obscured by even the smallest swells.  I also had to pay too much attention to the conditions (and BUI'ers!) to get much birding done.

In retrospect, I should have chosen the bicycle.  At least the lesson didn't cost me anything but time.  If you're interested in trying it, definitely rent one or go with a service before you buy one yourself.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Charlie Spencer

[Kevin]

Taking photos from a kayak can be trying at times, but after a while you get better at it.

[Tony Leukering]

On 2/4/2021 at 8:12 PM, DLecy said:

I believe all HY birds resemble adults in plumage by this time of year, as there is no Basic I Plumage for Common Grackles

The black blackbirds achieve an adult-LIKE plumage in the first fall, so, yes, there are no juveniles of Common Grackle (or other grackles or Red-wingeds or cowbirds or Yellow-headeds) in February. However, Common Grackle (and ALL other bird species) have a first basic plumage -- it is simply another name for juvenile plumage.