The jap beattles hatched at my house this weekend. Before I could get the shrubs sprayed two families of purple crackles moved in and were gobbling them down like popcorn. I didn't think anything would eat those but they were.
Yes it is a purple grackle. Sorry. They are my dad's most hated bird. When they clean their nest they drop the poop in water. In his case it is the pool.
Ya, my Grandma hated them too. She used to encourage me to shoot them (along with our state bird...robins :eek:) because they got into her strawberry patch.
I always had a suspicion that birds were eating some of our strawberries. Then this spring I was in the garden when 2 young robbins hopped out of the strawberry patch with red beaks and grins on their faces!:) Luckily we had a bumper crop this year so I didnt get too bent out of shape over it. I figure they probably eat enough bugs to make up for the damage.