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Pretty sure they are great tailed grackles, I never see commons with that color brown, but those look a lot like the great tails I have seen in Nevada. 

I noticed your wife heard the birds calling in the description, maybe you could listen to some red tailed hawk, red shouldered hawk, and golden eagle sounds and see if she can say which it sounded closest to?

EEEK!

Shame, they wont do well with out a mom... they look like mallards to me too.  Last week I saw a Wood duck male fiercely defending his (obviously mallard) hen from a group of other mallards... he let out such a whistle defending her... I suppose he was raised by a mallard, somehow...  

Good shot! I don't care how common they are, I still like looking at them! 

Given that they are a complete introduced nuisance in the wild, but in captivity they are very smart birds, and very good talkers! Mozart had one as a pet. I think we should convince everyone in America they want a pet starling, and start a trapping business... the bluebirds will thank us... 

The sparrows appear to be engrossed in conversation. I agree on the dark eyed junco. 

Thanks Snowy. These guys were so neat, they would dive at incredible speeds and make this call that sounded like rapid fire. It was just about impossible to get a shot of them doing anything other than sitting still, and even then, it was difficult!!! 

Thank you Nancy,  It was a really great trip, I was surprised I was able to get so many bird shots just going to very ''touristy'' areas, the tour I was on was rather structured and had little to no down time. In Quito, the hummingbirds were really the most interesting birds, there were so many, and practically ever plant had good ''hummingbird ...

Seen near Quito, Ecuador, early June