Boat-tailed Grackle males are large glossy black songbirds with long legs, long pointed bills, and long tails. Females are dark brown on the back and paler brown underneath and half the size of the males.
- Quiscalus major
- Length: 10.2-14.6 in (26-37 cm)
- Weight: 3.3-8.4 oz (93-239 g)
- Wingspan: 15.3-19.7 in (39-50 cm)
Range
Boat-tailed Grackles live along the Gulf Coast and all over Florida near saltwater.
Habitat And Diet
You can find them around marsh edges, beaches, parks, or in towns looking for discarded food.
They feed on anything from seeds and crustaceans to any food scraps they can find.
Boat-tailed Grackle Sounds:
Their song is a series of jeep-jeep-jeep sounds, often ending with a higher-pitch squeak. They also scream and clack as alarm calls.
Nests
Nests of Boat-tailed Grackles are in tall grasses by marshes and build the nest out of woven stems and grass and add wet mud and leaves to create the cup. Soft grass and pine needles are then added. One to five eggs are laid, and hatching and fledging take about two weeks each.
Attract more Boat-tailed Grackles
Attract them to your backyard with sunflower seeds, millet, or corn from platform feeders.
Fun fact:
Boat-tailed Grackles form harems of females, and only the highest-ranking male can mate. They also form massive swarms, like this one in a parking lot in Texas.
