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All: It's good to have Clarence Stevens' detailed description of the large grackle, which certainly matches Boat-tailed Grackle. Nonetheless, as promised earlier, I have added to the evidence by placing Julie Smith's photo of the bird, along with an annotated crop of the image, on the NS-RBA photo site. More photos for the permanent record would of course have been desirable. I sent the crop to two US experts, only one of whom has so far responded with the statement that the photo image was "consonant" with Boat-tailed, but felt unable to be wholly convinced. Nevertless, there are a couple of features that might support the i.d. 1) The irridescence of the back: this is strongly blue, without purple tones, while the largely hidden head is much darker, and possibly more purple-toned (although that's tricky). 2. The size and shape of the tail: the tail feathers themselves seem broader than a Common Grackles's, and the tail seems about as long as or shorter than the wings, as shown by 2-headed arrows on the cropped image, although the lengths of both must be partly guessed at. In addition, the tail is more rounded than strongly wedge-shaped. As Clarence noted, the huge tail of Great-tailed is more wedge-shaped. So, take a look, for what it's worth. Cheers, Ian Ian McLaren
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