Before and After Project

Due to the nature of Grackles being very good builders, Olivia decided to make her Grackle a carpenter in CloudCuckooLand. For her project, she decided to make a Grackle nest out of real sticks from the many trees on Interlochen campus. For her after, she built a fake modern house using images from the internet inspired by all the research she did on the Grackle.

After

Bird Research

Location: Grackles are found in the U.S, most commonly in Texas, but also seen across the midwest, the south, and the east coast. Some have been spotted in Canada, but very few.

Climate Preference: Wet, open woodland marshes and suburbs, parks, and agricultural fields.

Food: The common grackle mainly eats seeds, agricultural grains(they are the #1 threat to corn), and garbage. In the summer one-quarter or more of a grackle’s diet may be animals, including all sorts of bugs, fish, frogs, salamanders, mice, and other birds. Grackles are known for finding nests of other birds and eating everything in it, baby birds, adult birds, even the eggs.

Life Span: 17-22 years

Family Layout: Grackles are monogamous, and mate for life. Grackles have a clutch size of 1-7 eggs and have only one or two broods in their lifetime. Grackles sometimes nest in loose colonies of up to 200 pairs, showing little territoriality except in the immediate area of the nest.

Home: Females choose where the nest is built. They may begin building in one spot, but are known to change their mind and move multiple times. They tend to nest high up in evergreen or pine trees, they do not like nesting in unnatural places such as man-made bird houses or barns.

Nest materials: Females build the nests, but the males sometimes help or do repairs later in time. The nest can take as little as a week to as long as six weeks to finish. It’s a bulky cup made of twig, leaves, and grasses along with bits of paper, string, cloth, corn husks and other materials. The female reinforces the nest cup with mud and then lines it with fine grasses and horse hair. The finished nest is 6-9 inches across, with an inside diameter of 3-5 inches and a depth of 3-9 inches.

Different Types (colors): I have been studying the common grackle, but there is also the great-tailed grackle and the boat-tailed grackle. The common grackle from afar looks like a solid black bird, but actually has a purple/blue head, belly, and wings that have an iridescent shine to it. Grackles are also known for their piercing yellow eyes. They are also known for looking elongated and prestigious.

Temperament: Grackles are quite mean birds(to other birds). They eat many other birds, but you tend to see them raiding robins nests the most(watch out Liv). They are very loud, and annoying birds, most people try to get rid of them. Grackles are very smart and not afraid of people at all, they are actually pretty social with humans, they can be nice and cheerful, but also very rude.

Symbolism (does it mean something in other cultures?): Grackles are seen as a bird to help release old emotions. If something has been weighing on you for a long time the grackle will help you overcome it. Grackles live in pine trees, which signifies the elimination of any sense of negativities. Having the grackle as your totem can also guide you in making decisions of unclogging your thoughts and your feelings.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Grackle/lifehistory#nesting

Lineage Research

Lineage

(Celtic)

History:

The Celts were a group of multiple tribes with origins in central Europe. They shared a similar language, religion, and overall culture. Celtic culture started to evolve as early as 1200 B.C. The Celts were from Britain, Ireland, France and Spain—via migration. I am most likely an Irish Celt. Their legacy remains most prominent in Ireland and Great Britain, where traces of their language and culture are still prominent today.

By third century B.C. the Celts controlled most of Northern Europe, but as the Romans began to expand across Europe they launched a military campaign against the Celts. The Romans killed thousands of Celts and with them destroyed the Celtic culture.

Location:

The Celts were from mainly Britain and Ireland, but also France. Many Celts also migrated to Spain

The rest of my dramaturgical work is specifically about the Irish Celts.

Language:

They spoke Irish, also known as Erse or Gaelic; which is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family.

Way of Living:

Higher Power:

The Celtic religion was polytheistic. They believed in many Gods and Goddesses, but unlike most polytheistic religions they did not have Gods dedicated to specific things. There were many stories and Gods were created to fit the stories. There were about 69 Gods who were responsible for war, but all specific scenarios. They also believed in mythical creatures, a lot of their stories and legends involved fairies. The Celtic believed in human and animal sacrifice. They also believed in life after death, but not much was written as to how that was achieved. Cremation was common, but if buried, it was with their possessions.The Celts placed importance on animals. Birds specifically were important because they had healing powers with their singing.

Weapons:

Typically in battle you would see a footman, with a sword, a round wooden shield, and either a bow and arrows, or three darts to throw.

Present Day Compare/Contrast:

Celtic people still exist in today's world, and they still make an impact on all sorts of other cultures.