They’re common as dirt around Houston, but I can’t seem to find the right example in my bird book. I think of them as the ‘McDonalds Bird’, as they seem to frequently hang out in the parking lots of fast food restaurants. About the size of a robin, dark brown or oily black, long bill, usually fairly skinny and disheveled looking. Can anyone help?
Sounds like Brewer’s Blackbirds to me. Great-tailed Grackle is another possibility, but they would be considerably larger than a Robin.
Having lived in Houston for 50 years I would concur with Colibri… Most likely grackles…
According to the National Geographic, the Brewer’s is found in Houston only in the winter. All the grackles are larger than robins. How about a female red-winged blackbird. Try them out: http://enature.com/guides/select_Birds.asp?curGroup=Birds
Grackles they are, I believe. Thanks, folks.