We had a small flock of great-tailed grackles make a stop in the back yard this fall. I don’t usually think of grackles as beautiful. Loud, yes. Messy, sure. But these birds were gorgeous. Two-tone iridescent blue on their heads, bronze on their backs and purple on their wings.
They must have all been males, because, as is typical for birds, the females are a drab striped brown.

Great-tailed grackles are new to Colorado, expanding up from Mexico.