These medium-sized, lanky birds have glossy dark feathers. Their heads look blue or purple in the light, in contrast to their ...

This blue budgie is a playful parakeet with a typical lifespan of 5–10 years. Macaws and cockatoos can live to be 70–80 years old. averess / Getty Images/iStockphoto My middle schooler decided she ...

Grackles have been prancing around my lawn this week showing off their iridescence as they search for grubs and other fodder. The grackles are large, black, conspicuous – and almost always unwelcome ...

Failing that, perhaps we could find some regal Houston designation for the grackle. Consider this excerpt from B.C. Robison’s “Birds of Houston”: “Common grackles assemble in flocks in open areas such ...