Quantcast

Boat-tailed Grackle

Quiscalus majorOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Blackbirds and Orioles (Icteridae)
Boat-tailed Grackle Breeding Male Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Dagger, All-purpose, Curved (up or down)
  • Eye Color: Brown during first year, becoming pearl gray, then variable shades of yellow. Rarely, some birds' irises remain gray.
  • Head Pattern: Plain
  • Crown Color: Iridescent blue-black.
  • Forehead Color: Iridescent blue-black.
  • Nape Color: Iridescent blue-black.
  • Throat Color: Iridescent blue-black.
  • Cere color: No Data
Boat-tailed Grackle Breeding Male Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 30-43 cm (12-17 in)
  • Weight: 213 g (7.5 oz)
  • Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color: White, Black, Gray
  • Underparts: Iridescent blue-black.
  • Upperparts: Iridescent blue-black.
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Boat-tailed Grackle Breeding Male Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats., Strong direct flight on rapidly beating wings with long keeled tail extended behind.
  • Wingspan Range: 46-60 cm (18-23.5 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Squared Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Iridescent blue-black.
  • Under Tail: Iridescent blue-black.
  • Leg Color: Black
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Orioles and Blackbirds (Icteridae)_blue
Species Quiscalus major
Length12 - 17 Inches
Wingspan20.75 Inches

Boat-tailed Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle: Large, black bird with a very long, keel-shaped tail. Male is iridescent blue-black with yellow or brown eyes. Black bill is slender and long. Legs and feet are gray. Forages walking on ground and wading in water. Strong direct flight with rapidly beating wings.

● Song: "jeeb, jeeb, jeeb"

● Foraging & Feeding: Boat-tailed Grackle: Eats small fish, frogs, snails, aquatic and terrestrial insects, shrimp, small bird eggs and nestlings, small reptiles, fruits, berries, and seeds. Sometimes steals food from other birds.

● Breeding & nesting: Boat-tailed Grackle: Three to five pale blue to blue-gray eggs with splotches of black, brown, purple, and gray are laid in a bulky nest made of dried stalks, grass, and cattails (in marshes) or Spanish moss, feathers, mud, cow dung, and bits of debris (in trees). Incubation ranges from 13 to 15 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Boat-tailed Grackle: Great-tailed grackle is larger and has bright yellow eyes, longer bill, flatter crown, and is found inland west of Mississippi River. Smooth-billed Ani has dark eyes, thick curved bill, and long, graduated tail.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats., Strong direct flight on rapidly beating wings with long keeled tail extended behind.
Boat-tailed Grackle Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Boat-tailed Grackle: Rarely strays from coastal salt marshes except in Florida where it is also inland. It is found around ponds and streams (Florida peninsula), farmlands, towns and cities. Their range is expanding up the Atlantic coast.
BreedingSmall colonies, Promiscuous
Population
MigrationSome migrate
Weight7.5 Ounces