Chapter 11

I would like to see Grackles and Seagulls go for the same pile of bread crumbs, the same bird feeder, the same discarded meal, left by irreverent man... both bird "kinds" are extremely aggressive. The Grackle will steal food. I've seen Seagulls "beat up" other birds, i.e., MINE MINE MINE... I wonder why these two birds never tangle (at least within my world...). Perhaps they know that if they do, KA-BOOM, all will cease to exist? Do true warriors respect one another i.e., if you want to stay alive you LEAVE that dude alone, he's just like you...

Grackles, at a distance are large loud black birds. I suspect people will see them up in the trees, or on the telephone poles and think "crow". Alternatively, just "black bird"... but a Grackle up close... he wears an Iridescent hood, the pillowcase mask, and it is a brilliant blue. A Grackle flew into the bush next to my window, this morning, and once more I was in awe of that color, that hood... but think on it - robbers wear masks, the Grackle is a robber. He is a thief. Maybe the thief at Mardi Gras, although I think it is the Crow who is the joker, the clown. Are Grackles smart? They know the strategy of mob rule. When they find a place to feed, it isn't just one who shows up it is a GANG who does a strafe landing... rat-tat tat, out of the way, the Grackles are coming! Hmm. Should be a City Gang wearing those colors, black and Iridescent Blue. It is the Grackle who homeowners curse. The "cute little birds" are always chased away by this big boisterous mob of black birds with their blue hoods, stick 'em up, give me all your bread, man...

Yet the Grackle mother is quiet, and patient. ... the monstrous child follows the sleek mother, whose black feathers sometimes shine in the sun, a match for that Iridescent hood... the monstrous huge child, a dull grayish brown, screaming, as the mother pecks at the in-betweens ... (what do they find between the grass blades, birds...)

What training is this? Is the mother saving up for her gregarious social gatherings with the rest of her tribe? Is she saving her voice? Alternatively, is it the child who is getting ready for the harsh scream that he will cry, as an adult, when he dive-bombs the bird feeders in our backyards - chasing the "cute little birds" away?

I like the cute little birds a lot. However, you have to respect a survivor.

Maybe it is the Squirrel that the Grackle has more in common with than the Seagull - both the Squirrel and the Grackle always "mix it up" with us Humans. They get in our faces.

They're survivors.