POL pee AO DsuiBiO Ns Bil yk Te N 3 
FIRST STATE RECORD — GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE 
by ROBERT RANDALL 
Saturday, 5 October 1974, Bob Adams, Bill O’Brien and I were returning 
from an early-morning trip to Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge and 
stopped at the sewage treatment plant just north of Jacksonville. 
After observing the birds in and around the sewage drying beds, we 
were about to leave when I noticed an unusual-looking blackbird feeding 
on the walkway of one of the treatment pools. The first glance revealed 
a large bird with a brown head, chest and stomach and blackish back, 
wings and tail. The wings and back showed a metalic purplish sheen. The 
eye was whitish-yellow. As the bird turned sideways, then flew, the long, 
flat tail was observed. 
Bob Adams and I took several photographs at a distance of 35 feet 
(color photos on file—Ed.) 
After watching the bird for nearly ten minutes, I commented that if 
this bird was on the coast of Louisiana, it would be a “Great-tailed 
Grackle.”’ 
As we drove home, we discussed this bird’s possible identity. Research- 
ing the subject at home, my resource material (primarily THE BIRDS OF 
ARIZONA, by Allan Phillips, Joe Marshall and Gale Monson, 1964) showed 
that female “Great-tails” have white eyes and that “Boat-tails’” have dark 
eyes; this confirmed by identification. 
Bob Adams and I returned to the site again in the afternoon. After 
seven minutes, the bird was found in low brush between two settling flats. 
We observed it for an additional 45 minutes and took more photographs. 
Since all the other blackbird species, including Brewer’s, were congregating 
in the area to feed, it was easy to make comparisons with the ‘“Great-tailed 
Grackle.” 
That evening, many persons were notified and by 10:00 Sunday morning 
the bird was found on the gravel road leading into the plant by several 
area birders. The grackle continued to be a cooperative subject and was 
again observed around 4:00 p.m. by more birders. 
Monday, 7 October, birders from distant parts of Illinois came and 
found the bird. Owing to identification problems, the specimen was taken 
and is now deposited in the Illinois State Museum. 
[At the time this bird was discovered, Illinois birders were not aware of 
the forthcoming treatise on the “FIELD IDENTIFICATION OF GREAT- 
TAILED AND BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES IN THEIR ZONE OF OVER- 
LAP” by H. Douglas Pratt in Birding, Vol. 6, No. 5. Since all members of 
the Illinois Ornithological Records Committee and other birders found the 
bird on 7 October and no one was able to positively identify it, and since 
only a specialist could properly identify it, there was a unanimous decision 
(after thorough discussion) to take the specimen. Specialists at both the 
American Museum of Natural History and Louisiana State University have 
identified the bird as a Great-tailed Grackle (Cassidix mexicanus), but 
differ in the identification of race. — Ed. ] 
—1260 West College 
Jacksonville, Illinois 62650 
