Bird Bikers

Every spring, and then sporadically into summer, I am visited by Common Grackles. They appear sometimes in ones and twos, less often in much larger numbers. As handsome a bird as a Grackle may be, these Icterids remind me nothing so much as large, dangerous-looking bikers from the most disreputable gang in town. And yesterday, these "bird bikers" rolled into the land of Cary BirdCam. According to the photo evidence an indeterminant number of individuals worked the suet baskets throughout the day. I suppose I am unfairly influenced by their negative reputation among my birdfeeding peers, some of whom report that the Grackles swoop in in force and clean their feeders out. I have not had a similar experience, although they work my suet offerings hard on the times when they "rumble". We'll see what they do this year.