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It’s been over 110 degrees (F) here for some time now, and so I don’t see a way to "encourage" the bullying grackles to leave. . . So, I’m hoping they aren’t the ones eating the tadpoles, but if you know – please tell me the truth – even if it hurts! :) Thanks, -A.
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by goodkarma_ 5b (My Page) on Sun, Aug 2, 09 at 22:45
| I have had a nesting colony of Grackles at my pond every year for almost 10 years now. They stay close and fend off other birds until their babies are self sufficient and they no longer need to feed them on the ground. The colony disperses until the next breeding season, but you will see the occasional Grackle at the pond. I have never known them to eat tadpoles or fish. They do love to bathe in the water, and they do leave nest droppings and dead baby birds in or at the pond's edge in the spring. Grackles are very social and they will fight off Herons, Hawks, and Cats, Dogs or other predators that are near their nests or near the pond. Ponds are important to them for reasons I think I understand but cannot prove. I think they use the pond as a kind Geographical Marker for their nesting sites they way American Indians used Signal Trees. Not only do they fight predators but I have been alerted to "Something wrong at the pond" by a colony's collective vocalization of loud clicks and calls as they gather to fight or to send a warning. Grackles also seem to recognize a person if they see them often enough and I have been able to come within feet of Grackles and their babies in the yard. They will however leave quickly if my husband or daughter come in to the yard. Interesting yes? All in all I look forward to the Grackes every year, and am quite fond of them. I miss them when the colony disperses which in my zone is almost always on June 21st. Regards, |
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- Posted by buyorsell888 Zone 8 Portland OR (My Page) on Mon, Aug 3, 09 at 15:47
| Is it possible the tadpoles morphed and dispersed? Were they native toads? That is what they would do. No one eats their tads, they are toxic. |
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| Lisa, that was a very interesting post. Especially about the grackles "early warning system". Everything has it's place in nature. I never cared for grackles myself, as they always seemed to bully the other birds around our feeders. But they have the right to eat and exist like the rest of us I guess! As you said, they come around the pond to drink and bathe, but I have never noticed them going for or eating any tadpoles or fish. |
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- Posted by amalgamation (My Page) on Tue, Aug 4, 09 at 17:41
| Hi Everyone :) Lisa, Very interesting! But I’m worried about the other birds that frequent my yard – usually many different types of doves, finches, curve-billed thrashers, the occasional verdin, and cardinal. The grackles are fighting them all, and none seems to be able to get a drink, which is important this time of year as we live in the desert and it’s been over 110 degrees... We have a somewhat small yard over-full with large trees, which many birds like, but this is the first I’ve seen of *so many* grackles at once, hogging the pond and bullying other birds. Plus, now they are killing all the plants around the pond by stepping on them, pulling leaves off, and even pulling them out of the ground. They are doing that *in* the pond as well. Have you noticed your flock doing that? I thought they might be eating the tadpoles because the males (which, as you know, as somewhat larger), as they have been standing around in the water, and in the plants while sort-of pecking in the water, as if they are hunting. Not bathing. The tads were still at the super-tiny phase when this began. I really appreciate your taking the time to tell me about your grackle flock :) I think they are such beautiful birds, especially the fantail males! Though, I worry if the tads, the other birds, and our plants can survive them. The tads definitely did not have enough time to grow legs and move on. The tads are Spadefoot Toads, which are native to our area and usually we have to be very careful around the yard once they grow legs because they are *everywhere* but still only about the size of my pinkie nail! We’ve only seen them over the last couple of years, though we’ve been here five years. So, I think they are having a hard time surviving the drought. We had *literally* hundreds of babies last year, but I’ve not seen *one* of the babies about the yard this year. Just the two adults that *make* the babies :) About six months ago, I did see an ant colony force up a baby through the ground and then start eating him – alive :( I don’t know if that’s why the others haven’t showed up this year. I hope not! In any case, the main reason for our pond has been these toads. I’m hoping to bring up native populations again. I’m wondering now, if there wasn’t enough for them to eat in the pond and they ate each other. It seems unlikely, but they are known to do it. It seemed more likely the mosquito fish or grackles did it. I don’t know what to think. I’m afraid I’m starting to have the same feeling about the grackles; the bullying is really over the top!
The tadpole mystery continues. . . -A. |
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- Posted by amalgamation (My Page) on Tue, Aug 4, 09 at 17:49
| Lisa, I forgot, I noticed the doves recognize me. One even landed on my hat - while it was on my head! - while I was gardening... Too funny :) After a couple of years, they might have realized, "Hey, she's the one with the food.... Let's get her!" However, since the majority of the grackles are newcomers, they don't recognize me yet. Maybe when they start to I can at least get some decent photos of them :) -A. |
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- Posted by goodkarma_ 5b (My Page) on Wed, Aug 5, 09 at 11:06
| A, I have noticed the Grackles pulling plants, but only early in the nesting season. And they exist peacefully here with the other birds. No bullying by the Grackles. Seems something is "off" with your colony. Perhaps the scarce water and high temperature have made things more desperate for the birds in your area. I have to tell you that the reason I love the grackles so much is that I observed a whole colony react when a young Grackle drowned in a waterfall. I saw the young bird slip under the falls, and within seconds I had netted the bird out. It was too late and the young bird was dead. But the second that bird slipped the whole colony started to Shriek and scream so loud it seemed like something out of a movie. And after my failed rescue attempts they kept speaking back and forth to each other. Dozens of calls, clicks and discussion. They watched and clicked to each other as I buried the bird. Not a grackle swooped down to attack me as they seemed to "know" what had happened and watched me bury the bird. It was the year after this that when a baby bird would be found dead in their nests after the wicked storms we have I would find them placed on my pond stones, by the waterfalls. No kidding. I bury them, and I think that is expected. I understand this may be hard to believe but it is true. Regards, |
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- Posted by nativesnut 8 (My Page) on Wed, Aug 5, 09 at 15:43
| Mosquito Fish DEFINITELY eat tadpoles. Even some varieties of Toad tadpoles. They are bad news for amphibians in your pond! |
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- Posted by amalgamation (My Page) on Thu, Aug 6, 09 at 19:01
| Hi NativesNut, Thank you for the info! I *did see* one of the larger mosquito fish trying to bite the tail of a tadpole and was going to post about it today. Unfortunately, there are *many* mosquito fish in there now, as they’ve had babies. We’re thinking of catching the big ones and putting them in a kiddie pool while the tads are growing. I don’t know how the (toad) tadpoles made it through last year, as there were more medium-sized mosquito fish then. Maybe because we had more plants in there for everyone to nosh on and hide in? We don’t have any goldfish because we knew they ate tadpoles, but we need the mosquito fish to eat mosquitoes. Ugh. |
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- Posted by amalgamation (My Page) on Thu, Aug 6, 09 at 19:09
| Hi Lisa, That’s an amazing story about the grackles! Though, it doesn’t surprise me much because I’ve seen similar smart behavior from them and from Curve-billed Thrashers. Both of them seem to be very smart birds. There’ve been studies on crows that show they make tools, make plans to figure out problems, and so on. IIRC, they were at least around 3-4 year old human level in thinking. Most humans would be surprised by that! Especially my mother-in-law-to-be whom called grackles "junk birds" which I found shocking as a concept. I understand the worry over native vs. exotic species – But "junk"?! When I first saw the flock of grackles last year, it was like the Hitchcock movie The Birds! There were suddenly two decent sized trees totally black with grackles and they were all squawking about something. I thought it might be a baby, went out to see, and though most of them flew to a safer distance, a few did stay to see what I was doing. I didn’t find a baby – but they left shortly after with me none-the-wiser to what they were going on about :P I just want you to know, I’m not anti-grackle. I love all creatures, though I did kill a couple of Black Widows last year, I usually move insects that scare me :) Either that or encourage them to go elsewhere. When we had a HUGE ant’s nest in our walkway, (the giant black ants that bite), I started putting sunflower seeds down so the doves would keep the area busy. The ants soon moved, taking some sunflower seeds with them! I’d read to pour boiling water down the hole – but that’s just horrible to me. Anyway, most of our tadpoles are gone, so I’m not going to net the pond. Since the grackles bully the other birds we got some big bowls and put them on the other side of the yard and moved our birdbaths into the shade over there, too. The other birds have found them and seem grateful. The weather here is *so* harsh, and with drought – even worse. There really is a desperate need for water. It would be nice if it didn’t draw *every* cat within 10 block radius since they sometimes kill birds. It’s so heartbreaking :( But since we have the shadiest yard with the most water for at least a one-mile radius, we probably get the worst of it. Totally off topic, but now thinking about it, before we took in our cat that was abandoned (in the desert! – in the summer! – ugh humans!) the cat situation was a lot worse. He is *completely crazy* and tries our patience to the absolute limit, daily, and now has to be kept in until after sunset because he was killing birds – Probably because he can’t get over being abandoned and starving. He will fight any cat over his "territory," even our other semi-feral cat we found here years ago. This drives us mad, but maybe his craziness has paid off for us in the other cats killing birds area – as we’ve had fewer cats hanging around – probably not wanting to deal with him! Take care, -A |
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- Posted by goodkarma_ 5b (My Page) on Thu, Aug 6, 09 at 22:17
| A, I really never thought you were anti-grackle. You seem to be very kind and the fact that you provide extra water for the other birds, instead of trying to relocate the flock shows your kindness toward all the birds. It takes a rare person who goes that extra mile like you do. I like the way you took care of the ant situation. Very cool idea. Your cat situation does sound heartbreaking. I have had similiar situations in the yard until Old Mr. D trapped the cats and I fear killed them or turned them in to be euthanized. Turns out trapping outdoor cats in my city is allowed. I wish we could trap humans who abandon their pets and relocate them to a proper place. I hope your drought ends soon. Summer here has been record breaking cool and usually we will have been dry to weeks with the grass turning brown, and many of my shade plants shriveled up. But not this year, even the lungwort and ferns are still lush. Very strange weather year. Regards, |
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| I came across the article linked below this morning and thought it fitted in with the posts here. "Horton" |
Here is a link that might be useful: Rooks
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- Posted by amalgamation Tucson - TOO HOT!!! (My Page) on Fri, Aug 7, 09 at 17:17
| Lisa, Thank you :) That's too sad about the trapping of cats. Some human beings have no empathy. Perhaps *they* could be relocated . . . to Siberia. We are lucky enough to have a vet that believes in "TNR" trap, neuter, and release. Eventually there will be less feral cats *overall*, which is a better solution. The weather *is* weird. When we first moved to Arizona, during "monsoon season" it would pour rain every night, to flooding. You couldn't drive! Now we're lucky if we get a drizzle every few weeks. Climate change, I guess. Very good story and video, thanks for sharing it :) I wonder how many people would think of using pebbles? Take care, -A. |
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- Posted by bazz(bradblk28@yahoo.com) onSun, May 23, 10 at 0:29
| Couch's Spadefoot Toads are not true toads(Bufonidae),but are(Scaphiopodidae)family.They are not poisonous,like true toads.They can morph into toadlets in as little as 7-9 days.Their development is may be dependent on the size of the pond they are in and triggered by evaporation of water in which they are in...Spadefoots have boom and bust years,depending on rainfall.Each female can produce 3000 eggs.I am not sure,but some frogs and toads,"do" eat each other.In some species,two distinct personalities/types/forms,of tadpoles occur in the same brood.One tadpole will grow slow and and emerge as bigger adults; while feeding mainly on vegetable matter(ie algae,rotting leaves or wood matter,aquatic plants etc.; while their broodmates take on the Mr Hyde character and eat animal matter,including insects,fish other amphibian larvae and their very own brothers and sisters.This high protein diet,I guess,accelerates growth,but produces smaller toadlets... OK,now that I've rambled on about a whole bunch of nothing about,nothing pertaining to the grackles and mosquito.I will say,probably mosquito fish...But I say,most likely just nature taking advantage of the awesome habitat you have provided. |
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- Posted by bazz_groover (My Page) on Sun, May 23, 10 at 1:43
| UPDATED INFO Couch's Spadefoot Toads are not true toads(Bufonidae),but are in the (Scaphiopodidae)family.They are named for hard dark colored spade like appendage on back feet(used for digging in/burrowing backward.They are not poisonous,like true toads and have smoother skin, not as callous,hard or rough as the skin of most true toads.They do have the little bumps(warts),but are covered by more of a frog- like skin,with "moist" feel to it; some may say?...They can morph into toadlets in as little as 7-9 days.Their development may be in direct relation to the size of the pond they are in...and triggered by the evaporation of water in the pond;or should I say temporary puddle,they are in... Spadefoots have boom and bust years,depending on rainfall,or storm severity...It seems like the low booming noise of a desert thunderstorm and pounding of heavy rains,are more of a wake up call fore them,than the actual precipitation or rainfall,from these monsoon type storms. Each female can produce 3000 eggs in a clutch; may be more than one clutch a year,or non at all if its a real dry season.Boom or bust/up and down. I am not sure which species,but the tadpoles of some frogs and toads,"do" eat each other.In some species,there are two distinct personalities/types/forms,of tadpoles that will occur in the same clutch.A la,"good kid bad kid" or Jekyll and Hyde...One tadpole in a clutch will grow slow and and emerge as bigger adult; while feeding mainly on vegetable matter(ie algae,rotting leaves or wood matter,aquatic plants etc.; while their siblings,from the same clutch take on the Mr Hyde character and eat animal matter,including insects,fish other amphibian larvae/tadpoles and even their very own brothers and sisters(clutch mates or at least the same species, seem to be preferred by the carnivorous ones).This high protein diet,I guess,accelerates the growth of these little predators, but also produces smaller toadlets... OK,now that I've rambled on about a whole bunch of nothing about,nothing pertaining to the grackles and mosquito.I will say,probably mosquito fish...But I say,most likely just nature taking advantage of the awesome habitat you have provide |
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- Posted by louie_gardner (My Page) on Sun, May 23, 10 at 16:40
| Grackles or Mosquito Fish Eating Tadpoles?? clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by amalgamation z9 Tucson, Arizona (My Page) on Sun, Aug 2, 09 at 17:32 It’s been over 110 degrees (F) here for some time now, and so I don’t see a way to "encourage" the bullying grackles to leave. . . So, I’m hoping they aren’t the ones eating the tadpoles, but if you know – please tell me the truth – even if it hurts! :) Thanks, -A. Gram per gram the meanest fish I have ever had much meaner them cichlids. |
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