Common Grackle

This is the last day of our holiday in Texas and we set off on our flight home via London this evening.
We have just enjoyed a walk on one of the Lake Austin trails with G & M and baby Abigail followed by brunch in Magnolia cafe - one of the delights of Austin.

The Grackle must be one of the commonest birds in this part of the States and with so much outdoor eating they are often seen waiting for food scraps to drop. I was amused to read that a large group of them is called a "plague" or an "annoyance" and it certainly must be noisy as they have a very raucous "song". 
The thing that has fascinated me is the tail of the males as they look very unbalanced when they are flying since they keel (display a longitudinal tail ridge) unlike any birds I have seen at home.