grackle

grackle, common name applied to some members of the New World family Icteridae, which also includes blackbirds, orioles, meadowlarks, cowbirds, and others. The plumage of the purple, or common, grackle of the Atlantic coastal region is black with metallic hues, iridescent in the sunlight. It feeds on grain and harmful insects, but it is a cannibalistic nest robber. Grackles invade cities and roost in huge flocks. The bronzed grackle, which interbreeds with the purple, is found further inland and W to the Rocky Mts.; in the South are found the Florida and boat-tailed grackles, in Texas and Mexico the great-tailed grackles, or jackdaws. Grackles are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Icteridae.

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grackle

Common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)

(credit: Thase Daniel)

Any of several songbird species (in the family Icteridae) having iridescent black plumage and a long tail; also called crow-blackbird. Grackles use their stout, pointed bill to snap up insects, dig grubs from the soil, and kill small vertebrates, including fishes and baby birds; they can also crack hard seeds. The common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) of North America is about 12 in. (30 cm) long. The males of two Cassidus species (boat-tailed and great-tailed grackles) have a long, deeply keeled tail; these species are found in arid lands of the southwestern U.S. to Peru and in salt marshes from New Jersey to Texas, where they are locally called jackdaws. See also blackbird, mynah.