Minnow Eating Grackles!

Thanks to a friend pointing this activity out to me, I was able to watch a small flock of Common Grackles fish for their morning snack!

Minnows washed onto bottom tier of the erosion control at Point Edward Lighthouse were easy picking for the Grackles! The water level needs to be "just right" or the fish will not be trapped on the rocks.

 

I previously did not know that minnows are listed in the regular diet of Common Grackles. They are omnivorous feeding on insects, spiders, millipedes, earthworms, crayfish, minnows, frogs, eggs of young of other birds and small rodents! They eat a more vegetarian diet in the winter including berries, seeds and acorns. (Audobon Guide to North American Birds)

They didn't seem to mind getting their feet wet!

But sometimes they needed to shake to get rid of the water on their feathers!

They tended to fly to dryer land before devouring the prize.

Eventually wave action from passing boats washed the minnows away and the Grackles departed.