Boat-tailed grackle
Template:Short description Template:Speciesbox
The boat-tailed grackle (Quiscalus major) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found as a permanent resident on the coasts of the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States.
HabitatEdit
The boat-tailed grackle is found in coastal saltwater marshes and, in Florida, also on inland waters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In salt marsh areas, least bitterns will often associate with and make mixed colonies with grackles.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Boat-tailed grackles have established significant populations in several United States Gulf Coast cities and towns, Template:Citation needed where they can be found foraging in trash bins, dumpsters, and parking lots.
BreedingEdit
The nest is a well-concealed cup in trees or shrubs near water; the average clutch size is just over three eggs.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
DescriptionEdit
The male boat-tailed grackle is Template:Convert long and weighs Template:Convert.<ref name=enature/> Adult males have entirely iridescent black plumage, a long dark bill, a pale yellowish or brown iris, and a long keel-shaped tail. The adult female is much smaller at Template:Convert long and a weight of Template:Convert.<ref name=Bancroft1984/> She is also distinguished by her shorter tail and tawny-brown coloration, which covers the body apart from the darker wings and tail. The wingspan in adult birds is Template:Convert.<ref name=AAB/> In standard measurements, this species measures Template:Convert along the wing bone, Template:Convert in tail length, Template:Convert along the culmen, and Template:Convert along the tarsus.<ref name= Jaramillo/> On average, the boat-tailed grackle weighs about 10% more than the closely related great-tailed grackle, although the male great-tailed grackle has an even longer tail.<ref name= Jaramillo/><ref name=CRC/>
Young males are black but lack the adult's iridescence. Immature females are duller versions of the adult female and have blotches or spots on the breast. The eye color of the boat-tailed grackle varies with range. Gulf Coast and inland birds have dark eyes, whereas Atlantic birds have pale eyes.<ref name=bto/>
TaxonomyEdit
The boat-tailed grackle was first described by French naturalist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819. Its specific epithet major means "larger" in Latin. Despite its restricted range, there are four subspecies of the boat-tailed grackle, differing in size and iris color. The boat-tailed grackle was once considered the same species as the great-tailed grackle. The great-tailed species is generally quite similar of slightly smaller body size but has a longer tail and lacks this species' distinct domed head shape. The common grackle, with which the boat-tailed species often overlaps along the Atlantic coastline, is noticeably smaller and shorter-tailed, as well as lacking the domed head shape. Template:Citation needed
DietEdit
They forage on the ground, in shallow water, or in shrubs; they will steal food from other birds. They are omnivorous, eating insects, minnows, frogs, eggs, berries, seeds, grain, and even small birds.Template:Citation needed
CallEdit
Its song is a harsh jeeb, and it has a variety of typically grackle-like chatters and squeaks.
GalleryEdit
- Boat-tailed Grackleon sanibel Island, Florida.jpg
Male vocalizing on Sanibel Island, Florida
- Quiscalus major-male perching.jpg
- Quiscalus major-female.jpg
Female at Rodanthe Public Beach, North Carolina
- Boat-Tailed Grackle.jpg
Male at Deerfield Beach, Florida
- GatheringOfGrackles.jpg
A gathering of Grackles at Winding Waters Nature Area, Florida