Dear Grackle,
As I tucked myself into bed last night, I couldn’t help but wonder — do all birds sleep in nests? Do they use a duvet?
Yours,
Sleepy in San Marcos
Dear Sleepy,
I can see we birds have really inspired humans when it comes to sleeping arrangements – you covet our luxurious feather coats so much that you buy down-filled duvets! Since our biology provides us a built-in duvet, we don’t need such a fancy situation. And while I can’t speak for all species of bird, I can tell you that for much of the year, grackles don’t even need nests to have a cozy night’s sleep. Great-trailed grackles like myself make nests in early spring to prepare for the breeding season, which usually starts in mid-to late-march. Female grackles lay three to five eggs, and incubate them for around two weeks. The females feed the young for around three more weeks, until the baby grackles are ready to set out on their own. We usually raise one brood a year, but have been known to have two broods in favorable conditions. For much of the rest of the year, grackles don’t tie ourselves down to the nest; instead, we are able to roost in different trees to be close to food or mates. If you’ve walked around a Texas city at night, you’ve probably heard our roosting aggregations; we’re certainly not quiet. We’re so noisy (and some would say smelly) that UT Austin once resorted to firing shotgun blanks to deter us from roosting on campus – but that’s a story for another day.
Yours,
Grackle
