Question on types of birds I saw outside my window?

Question

I saw a bunch of birds outside my window on the branches of the tree that are so close to my house I can grab them if I reach out of my window. At first I thought they were crows, but as I looked closer they were shorter and fatter, more round. As I looked even closer, they had deep turquoise blue heads, almost as dark as the black. They were very beautiful. I also saw one with the same colored head, but with a bright orange stripe on each of his wings. There were tons of them, around 20 or 30 birds! I live in Orange County, NY ; if that helps at all. I would like to know the species of these birds, please!

Answer 1

Bright orange on the wing of a blackbird is typical of a red-winged blackbird, the blackbird with a shiny blue head is probably a common grackle. These two species are commonly found together during migration and winter and travel in fairly large flocks, they then disperse during the breeding season
Common Grackle
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Common_Grackle.html

Red-winged Blackbird

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Red-winged_Blackbird.html

Answer 2

Yes, it sounds like you have blackbirds. If you are a person who feeds birds, be prepared.... Black birds almost always gather in large number and will chase away other birds and eat all the food.

Answer 3

A good website is www.whatbird.com - I think that's correct.

It sounds to me that you have red-winged blackbirds. Their feathers are not always 'black' - sometimes they are opalescent and can look dark blue or purple.

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/144/_/Red-winged_Blackbird.aspx

Answer 4

it could be a common grackle, we get those here in wisconsin a lot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_grackle