Another use for untrimmed swamp milkweed: this bird was quite entertaining as it yanked the stems apart for nesting material with a mate watching close by! Some sort of blackbird? I couldn’t get a video before it flew off with it’s twigs. I’m in western NY.
by Maremdeo
7 Comments
Common grackle!
It’s a grackle! They have very stupid eyes if you ever see them up close <3
Grackle. Thousands of those dudes flock to my neighborhood in the spring and boy, what a racket.
I’ve seen birds do this many times! Apparently there is some kind of fiber on milkweed stems that they love to strip off for building their nests.
I had grackles do that to my rudbeckia a few weeks ago too! I was watching them with binoculars and completely fascinated as they made little piles of twigs
I love grackles, their feathers look so pretty and shiny in the sun <3 it would be a real treat to have them nest nearby so you can watch them grow up!
Unrelated story about nesting material. I was birdwatching in Brooklyn this time last year, found a house sparrow nest in progress. The male flew up holding a torn piece of plastic sheeting. The female was like WTF NO and made him take it back.