Quiscalus quiscula
Table of Contents
Common Name: Common Grackle
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom: Animalia |
| Phylum: Chordata |
| Class: Aves |
| Order: Passeriformes |
| Family: Icteridae |
| Genus: Quiscalus |
| Species: Quiscalus quiscula |
Conservation Status
Identifying Features
Common grackles are 13" long with a 17" wingspan. Their beaks are long and thick and they have yellow eyes.
Both males and females are shiny black, but males have more iridescence.
Habitat & Range
Common grackles stay year-round in the eastern half of the United States, and have a breeding range that reaches up through the Great Lakes region and into Canada.
They live in open forests, fields, and along water.
Behavior
Their call is a gurgling “k-sheek”.
Featured image by Manjith Kainickara.
Related
Agelaius phoeniceus
Red-winged Blackbird
Icterus galbula
Baltimore Oriole
Molothrus ater
Brown-headed Cowbird