I always see grackles (black birds) scouring around parking lots. Usually trying to pick up french fries or other food stuff people brush off themselves while getting out of the car.

Anybody have any funny suggestions ?

"Seriously, who pizzed in my Cheerios?"

"Target "

quote Originally posted by Wichita: I always see grackles (black birds) scouring around parking lots. Usually trying to pick up french fries or other food stuff people brush off themselves while getting out of the car. Anybody have any funny suggestions ?

Robbers!!
A mostly black bird, but not a blackbird. The bluish head distinguishes grackles from common blackbirds. In winter-early spring, , the powerlines around local Walmart and the next intersection are covered with 'em and they walk around walmart parking lot like roving bands of thugs, and will jump up into your vehicle or even into your shopping cart trying to grab a bite to eat. Don't even think about walking to your car with an open bag of chips in your hand. They're worse than the seagulls that come swooping down on you at a beach.
I had to go up and put screen over all my house plumbing vents and bathroom blower vents to keep the critters from nesting in them.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 09-24-2016).]

/\
I always understood they were Magpies.

quote Originally posted by maryjane: /\ I always understood they were Magpies.

Yeah, but it's all I've got. It was either that or Lenore (I know, not a grackle either).

Same thing as pigeons in the city: "Rats With Wings"

I think I'm going to call them parking lot chickens.

When we lived in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, I would see them on my morning countryside drive to work, darting into the roadway between passing cars, grabbing up insect killed by nightime vehicles. After moving back to Georgia, a pair entered my dryer vent, built a nest in the attic pipe and raised a brood. That flap-only vent got replaced by one with a snap-on grill cover.

They destroy my bird feeders and eat my cherries and peaches, managing to get inside the tree netting. Even squirrels and mockingbirds steer clear of them.

Flash-mob (smash and grab), looters, thieves.

Not many grackles in the PNW but we have one of it's cousins, the brewers blackbird for the parking lots:



parking lot chicken

[This message has been edited by spark1 (edited 09-25-2016).]