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Male Grackles show a more blue iridescence on their heads than the females do, but they both have the reflective color. They are not all black. The male in this photo is on the left.
and drop the sacs there. I believe that they were thinking the shiny vehicles were water, similar to the trampoline. All birds are creatures of habit and will fly the same route and land in relatively the same spot every fecal sac trip! With four to six babies in the nest, this can be a lot of white poop spots on your rocks — and this is for just one nest. This amount of bird poop washing into your pond from the surrounding rocks, or from deposits directly into the pond, can create pea-green soup water. Of course, the amount depends on the size of the water garden and number of nests — and consequently, the number of fecal sacs deposited. So what can you do to prevent them from doing this? Nothing, really. You can’t prevent the behavior; you can only try to deal with the mess. It only lasts for a month, and when the young fledge the nest the problem goes away. It’s unsightly around your pond, but it does wash off. Rain will eventually wash it away, but for a more active approach I recommend, on a regular basis, scrubbing the rocks around your pond and netting out the sacks that have been placed in the water. The sacs stay intact for a day or two in the water, unless March/April 2014
the fish get to them and eat them first. Now you know more than you ever wanted to know about Grackle poop and how it can affect your water garden. You can say now that you have read it all! a
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About the Author Jamie Beyer Water gardening has been a passion of Jamie’s for over 50 years and he has worked on over 1,000 ponds. He personally has several very large ponds, which contain many kinds of water plants and fish. Jamie has a Master’s Degree in Fish and Wildlife Biology, is a Lifetime Master Gardener and is founder and past president of the Central Iowa Water Garden Association. He has a broad background in fisheries, the dynamics of water, horticulture and aquatic and wildlife ecology. He owns a consulting/installation business, Midwest Waterscapes, in which he works as a water garden, fountain and pond consultant/installer.
www.BassingerKoiFarm.com 817-366-1746 325-728-4237 Fax thekoiman@sbcglobal.net
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