BOTD: Boat-tailed Grackle

Photo: Judy Gallagher

"Until the 1970s, this big blackbird was considered to be the same species as the Great-tailed Grackle, but the two forms overlap on the coasts of Texas and Louisiana without interbreeding. The Boat-tail is a more aquatic creature, nesting in marshes, scavenging on beaches. Except in Florida, it is seldom found far away from tidewater. Boat-tailed Grackles nest in noisy colonies, the males displaying conspicuously with much wing-fluttering and harsh repeated calls."

- Audubon Field Guide

Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major)

© Van Remsen

Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major)

© Van Remsen

Eat and run

Boat-tailed Grackle, female (Quiscalus major)

May 13, 2022

Corolla, North Carolina

Boat-tailed Grackle

[ID: A video clip of the camera zooming in on a boat-tailed grackle that's standing on brown mulch while it looks around. It is a black bird with iridescent blue and green feathers, a long tail, and round yellow eyes. Part of an old song plays from speakers offscreen. End ID.]

(I have no idea what this song is or what is being said)

Female Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major)

Taken at the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, FL

Boat-tailed Grackles (Quiscalus major), male, family Icteridae, found along the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. from Long Island to Texas

photograph by Rob Heifner

Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major), Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Chambers County, Texas.

[1555/10977] Boat-tailed grackle - Quiscalus major

Order: Passeriformes Suborder: Passeri Superfamily: Emberizoidea Family: Icteridae (icterids)

Photo credit: Michael Stubblefield via Macaulay Library

Boat-Tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major)

Family: American Blackbird Family (Icteridae)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Native to the southeastern USA, the Boat-Tailed Grackle shares much of its range with the closely related Common Grackle, but can be distinguished from its relative thanks to its larger size (Growing to be around 40cm/15.7 inches long compared to the around 32cm/12.6 inch long Common Grackle) and its considerably longer, broader tail, which is present in both sexes but more prominent in males. Found largely in coastal habitats (although they may also be found near large inland bodies of water or in human settlements where they feed on abandoned food scraps), members of this species roost in large, loosely organised flocks that may contain hundreds of individuals, and which scatter during the day to feed on seeds, fruits, insects, eggs and small vertebrates such as frogs, fishes and occasionally smaller birds before gathering back together at dusk. Boat-Tailed Grackles mate in the early spring (with a male establishing a strictly-guarded territory and producing a high-pitched mating call to invite a large number of females into it) and nest during the late spring and early summer (with several females constructing small, cup-shaped nests among dense elevated vegetation within close proximity to one another to increase the likelihood of potential predators and egg thieves being spotted, and 3-5 pale, speckled and striped eggs being laid in each nest.) Females of this species have pale brown bodies and dark brown wings, while males (such as the individual pictured above) are nearly twice the size of females and possess iridescent black feathers that reflect light in such a way that they may appear purple, blue or green if seen under bright sunlight. As is true of many grackles the males of this species are frequently mistaken for crows (with the word grackle being derived from the Latin graculus, meaning “jackdaw”, in reference to the two small species of Eurasian crows known collectively as jackdaws), but despite their superficial similarities grackles and crows are not closely related (with grackles and their fellow American Blackbirds being more closely related to the American Sparrows of the family Passerellidae.)

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Image Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/9601-Quiscalus-major

(Side note: Some of the sources I’ve read about grackles seem to suggest that they’re among the most common passerine birds in North America, but I’m curios as to how true that is. I don’t suppose anyone who sees this post and lives in/has been to America can confirm or deny this?)

Boat-tailed Grackle (male and female), Quiscalus major

Morning catch, 20231009

These grackles passed over this morning headed south. Merlin says that they are boat-tailed grackles (Quiscalus major), and I will defer to the app. I'm only about fifty miles, or so, north of their range, it's possible. But I'm in the range of common and great tailed grackles. They are very difficult to tell apart and this photograph isn't exactly a detailed closeup.

"To see Boat-tailed Grackles, head to the southeastern or Gulf Coast and look for long-tailed black birds around marsh edges, boat launches, and parks. They often walk around boldly on long legs with their tails cocked up, searching for food. It is also common to see Boat-tailed Grackles perched on roadside utility wires. If you still can’t find one, head to a fast-food restaurant in a beach town and scout around for discarded French fries—you’re almost sure to find grackles there." - allaboutbirds.org

🪶 BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE 🪶

Scientific Name: Quiscalus major

Family: Icterids

Class: Birds

Length: 10-17 in. (26-43 cm)

Weight: 3.2-5.8 oz (90-250 g)

Wingspan: 19-23 in. (~48-58 cm)

Flight Speed: 28 mph (45 kph)

Lifespan: 12 years

Location: Salt and freshwater marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and across Florida

Diet: Sunflower seeds, sorghum, millet, corn, and other bird seeds from feeders

Behavior: Nest in colonies, scavenge on beaches

Fun Facts: Males are glossy black and females are dark brown and russet, a group of them is called a "plague"

Offspring: 2-4 eggs per clutch

ANIMAL REQUESTS OPEN!

PLEASE RESPECT THE BANNERS OR I WILL BLOCK YOU!