This is Birdnote. I'm Marcus Rosten. I always find myself defending the blackbirds. You know,

the ones at your feeders that are a little bigger and louder than the sparrows, the ones that some

people prefer to shoe away, like the common grackle.

Greckles often arrive in noisy flocks, and maybe people see them as too loud, too reckless, too much, but I welcome them.

Of all the birds at my feeder, they may need the food the most. Common grackle populations have dropped by about 50% over the last 50 years.

They're now considered a near-threatened species.

And grackles aren't the only big black birds that are underappreciated.

Take turkey vultures, for example.

Some people recoil at the sight of their bald red heads.

But vultures provide an irreplaceable service,

cleaning up carrion as nature's master recyclers.

As a black birder, I can't help but defend these birds.

I see myself in them.

Moving through spaces where I'm watched a little closer, where I have to justify my belonging,

where just existing can make others uncomfortable.

During Blackbirders' Week, let's take a moment to appreciate all the big black birds out

there and the important

roles they play. For Bird Note, I'm Marcus Rosten.