If you know me, you know that I’m fascinated with grackles. For a while now, I’ve noticed that if you feed a piece of baked good to a grackle, they’ll take it to the nearest puddle and soak it until it’s soft and easy for them to break up with their beaks. If you give them something like a Gardettos rye chip, they’ll stand there patiently until the puddle does its work.
This seems like an ominous indication of both a learned culture and the ability to defer gratification, two things that elude many humans.
I caught the behavior on video, so you can see for yourself:
