Common Grackle

Common Grackle

(Quiscalusquiscula)

Photographed in the wild, Naples, Florida  Apr 2008

A familiar sight on suburban lawns, the Common Grackle can be recognized by its iridescent purple and bronze plumage and long, keel-shaped tail. Commons have Yellow Eyes as to the Boat-tail which has dark eyes. It's expanding its range into the far West, but is most common in the East.

The Common Grackle commonly engages in allowing ants to crawl on its body and secrete formic acid, possibly to rid the body of parasites. In addition to ants, it has been seen using walnut juice, lemons and limes, marigold blossoms, choke cherries, and mothballs in a similar fashion.

This bird is as familiar as the Starling in Canada and considered a noisy pest in rural areas.

Return to Grackles

Boat Tail Grackle

Boat-Tailed Grackle 

(Quiscalus major)

Photographed in the wild, Naples, Florida   Apr 2008 

A large, long-tailed blackbird, the Boat-tailed Grackle is found exclusively along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the United States. The noisy, iridescent, purple-black male is hard to miss.

The smaller brown female is much less conspicuous, and might even be mistaken for a different species.

Eye color in the Boat-tailed Grackle varies from region to region. Grackles along the Atlantic coast north of Florida have straw-coloured eyes. Florida birds have dark eyes. Grackles west of Florida to eastern Louisiana have light eyes, but those further west have dark ones.

Return to Grackles

Grackles

           Boat Tail Grackle                               Common Grackle

In North America three grackle species occur: Common, Great-tailed, and Boat-tailed. All are generally similar in appearance, with males glossy iridescent black and females brownish. Great-tailed and Boat-tailed are more closely related, and were once thought to represent the same species. Distinguishing Common Grackle from the others is relatively straight-forward, but separating Great-tailed and Boat-tailed grackles in the field can be more challenging.