Late winter & spring of 2006 saw large flocks of blackbirds in central OK.  We had starlings, Brewer's & Red-winged Blackbirds, but mainly the very Common Grackle.  Grackles aren't much appreciated by birders, but they can have a good side.  In 1930, ornithologist Wilson Baillairge observed a female grackle who adopted three orphaned Chipping Sparrows in their nest, and fed them until they were old enough to fly.