Nature & Ecology

Little Black Birds of Zihuatanejo
By Larry Abrams
Photographs by Robert Shantz

Last month we looked at the big black birds circling up in the Zihuatanejo skies; this month we’ll look at some of the smaller ones down on the ground. There are no real small black birds like sparrows or warblers around. Most of the birds we are going to talk about are the size of a robin or larger.

The most popular one that everybody sees is the Great-tailed Grackle. This is the guy that steals your French fries when you’re on the beach and poops on your towel hanging from the back of your lounge chair. They also love those little sugar and jelly packets. In fact, they’ll eat most anything that a restaurant has to offer. They are also found all over town, many times near water sources. You also know them because of their song. It’s a series of somewhat unpleasant noises, a rattle, a clear tinny whistle, harsh rustling sounds, loud clack notes…not your pretty Mockingbird song. The male is 18 inches long with a very long keel or rudder shaped tail, golden yellow eyes, and has beautiful purple blue-black glossy feathers on the head and back. When he feels amorous, he raises the hackles around his neck and will point his head and beak up in the air and really “sing.“ The female is three inches smaller, a mix of pale brown below, a little darker brown on top and a pale eye. As I’m sure everyone knows, most female birds and in fact most female animals are dull colored compared to the males to hide them better in their nests. Those of us reading this also know that we don’t use nests, so that’s why our females are prettier that us males….with the exception of a guy I went to high school with…but I can’t remember his name now.

Meanwhile, back on track….If you’re sitting on Playa La Ropa around five in the evening you’ll begin to notice these Grackles, beginning in small numbers, flying from tree to tree towards town. After they leave the beach, around Koyoto Plaza, the groups will number 10 or 20 or 30.

And by now, it will be pretty noisy with them all talking at once. They are on their way to several huge trees located just before and across the street from the main bus station. Here from about six to nine PM or so, there will be many hundreds, maybe thousands settling down for their nightly roost, all talking at the same time. It’s something to go and hear! The Great-tailed Grackles are also local birds of the southern United States.

Another little black bird is the Grooved-billed Ani. You won’t find them on the beach, they will be a block inland among low vegetation and there they could be mixed in with the Grackles so that if you’re not careful, you’ll assume that all the birds you see are all Grackles. The Ani…(this is a popular three letter word in cross word puzzles for the definition of “black bird”.)…is a little smaller at 13 ½ inches, has a black eye,…(not from getting into fights)…and most importantly, its long tail is fan shaped, not keel or rudder shaped like the grackle. It has a huge black bill that looks like it belongs on a parrot. And they, unlike the Grackles, are relatively quiet with just a weak soft peet. They are a very rare visitor to the southern US.

A third black bird we have in Zihuatanejo is the Bronzed Cowbird which I have only seen in town around the basketball court and the Naval base. These are about an inch smaller than a robin. The male is black with a bronze gloss and a thick ruff on its nape that gives it a hunchbacked look. The eyes on the male are very red, (not from drinking) the eyes on the female are a much paler red. There seems to be several small flocks around town that all fly down to feed at once, and up, at the same time, to shelter in a nearby tree. They compete with the pigeons for food on the ground but are easily scared off. They are an uncommon visitor to the southern US in the summer.

The last black bird in town—that many people ask me about—is the Yellow-winged Cacique. My best bet is that you would pronounce it Kah see kay, my wife thinks it should be kah seek…..anyway, pronouncing Yellow-winged is usually not much of a problem for anybody. This is yet another bird that is found in flocks, but much smaller ones during the day. They, like the Grackles, create bigger flocks by the end of the day. It is a slim bird, 11 ½ inches long, with a slight crest. Its most noticeable feature is its bright yellow wings and yellow edged tail. Sadly, they never visit us up north in the summer, but, because they never visit me, I have to return to Zihuatanejo every year to visit them…..And you thought the life of a birder was easy.
I think his name is Sandy…..

There is one other little black flier that you might see after the sun goes down……bats.

I would guess that the larger one is a large bat and the smaller ones are probably small bats. As you can tell, I don’t know much about bats…..other than there are large bats and small bats. They seem to be very interesting creatures but they drive me batty trying to tell the difference between them….The best place to see bats, I think, is by the west end of the basketball court where the lights attracts bugs and the bugs in turn attract bats. Also, anywhere there is an underwater lighted swimming pool is another place you might see them. They’ll swoop down and skim the top of the water to take a drink. They of course, don’t need the light to see the pool, you just need a little light to see them….

Any other birders out there, you can contact Larry at lardor@yahoo.com.

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