Species

Common grackle

Quiscalus quiscula

A large, glossy blackbird with a long, keel-shaped tail and a yellow eye, strutting across Georgia's lawns.

Photo Rhododendrites (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

Urban wildlife

At a glance

Size: About 28 to 34 cm long
Weight: About 74 to 142 g
Habitat: Towns, fields, marshes and woodland edges
Diet: Insects, seeds, grain, fruit, eggs and scraps
In Georgia: Common resident statewide
Voice: A squeaky, rusty-hinge song
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: Glossy black with a purple and bronze sheen; long, keel-shaped tail; yellow eye
Told apart from: Boat-tailed grackle, which is larger with a longer tail and lives on the coast
Told apart from: European starling, which has a short tail
Where to look: Lawns, car parks and fields

Behaviour

Common grackles walk on lawns, probing for insects. They sometimes rub ants on their feathers, possibly to discourage parasites. In winter they form huge roosts.

Why they matter

Common grackles eat many insects and grubs. They have declined in recent decades but remain abundant.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A bulky cup in a tree, often in colonies
Eggs — Usually four to six
Incubation — About 13 to 14 days
Chicks — Fed by both parents
Flight — At about 12 to 15 days
Lifespan — Several years

Living around people

Grackles feeding on lawns eat grubs and insects.

Misconceptions

Grackles are crows. They are blackbirds.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Winter roosts	Flocks	Nesting	Nesting	Chicks	Young fledging	Flocks forming	Flocks	Flocks	Roosts	Roosts	Roosts

Where it lives

Recorded in 54 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

Canada

If you found one

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