Males jockeyed for position on the feeders.
There was a noticeable pecking order: male grackles over male red-winged blackbirds, over lowly females of either species, who fed almost exclusively on the ground and in the wildflower garden. Grackles aggressively dominated the suet feeders and tried to fit their big wide bodies on the seed feeders desiged for chickadees.
Blackbirds have lost their glossy black exterior and are brown instead, resembling the female plumage, but still have their bright red and yellow wing patches, which they flare out when trying to displace another bird.
Grackles haven't lost any of their brilliant breeding colors, because they have iridescent feathers. There is quite a range of color on the males, from the brilliant light blue on their heads, to the deep purple on their backs, and brown on the sides. Getting pecked by that long saber of a bill must really hurt.
Male grackles were quite aggressive toward one another at the feeders, as well as the blackbirds, as illustrated below. It's clear who the top dog is.
Does this look like a scene from "the Birds"? It doesn't really capture the moment accurately because there were probably five times that many birds, and they were all squawking continuously.
Forming a huge flock like this in the fall is typical in migratory birds. They get the advantage of many eyes to find food and to detect and ward off predators, but with such a feeding hierarchy you wonder if the bottom of the pecking order really gets enough food to make the migration.
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