The Uniqueness of the Common Grackle
Common Grackle (quiscalus quiscula)
Family: Icteridae
Order: Passeriformes
Genus: Quiscalus
A grackle comes calling in your yard
Is he a guest or a pest?
His cry sounds like the screech of a squeaky hinge on a gate
Listen….is it a mockery or an invitation to awake?
Many observers who see the Common Grackle are always amazed by their bright plumage that shine a spectrum of colors in the sun. Depending on the lighting, you may see blue, brown, black, or even purple! While seen as common in many areas of the United States, there is nothing common about this bird. In this article, I will introduce you to who the Common Grackle is, what they do, how to attract them to your yard, their conservation status, and what you can do to help.
Who Is the Common Grackle?
The Common Grackle is a type of blackbird that is typically seen walking across lawns and fields foraging for food and is known for the strange sound they make that sounds like a creaky gate hinge. They gather in noisy groups during the breeding season where they nest high in coniferous trees close to the water (they will also occasionally nest in bird houses).
In the winter, they join communal flocks with other blackbirds in order to maximize their chances of finding food as well as for protection. The grackle can live in a wide range of habitats such as woodlands, forest edges, grasslands, meadows, swamps, marshes, agricultural areas, and even suburbs. Both males and females will appear black in the shade and it’s only in the sun that you can tell the difference between the sexes. The males will usually have a blue head with black or brown feathers that reflect the sun. The females will be mainly brown in color.
An interesting note is that grackles are one of many birds that engage in a practice called “anting” where the bird allows ants to crawl in their feathers and bite them. This creates what is called formic acid. Scientists theorize that this formic acid might be used to get rid of parasites. Grackles have also been seen to use other things, such as lemons and mothballs, for this same purpose.
The grackle is known by several names in several languages. In Spanish he’s known as the zanate común, zanate norteño, quiscalo común, grajo bronceado or grácula. In Portuguese, he’s known as the quíscalo, in French the quiscale bronzé (“tanned grackle”), in Catalan the quíscal comú, in Dutch the glanstroepiaal (“shining trupial”), and in Polish as the wilgowron mniejszy (“lesser grackle”).
Feeder Tips
If you want to attract these awesome birds to your yard, experts recommend you use the following in your bird feeders: mixed grain, seeds, acorns, rice, wild and cultivated fruits, black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, safflower, cracked corn, peanuts, peanut hearts, millet, oats, and milo. As a general rule, grackles tend to forage on the ground and have also been seen to eat other things such as garbage, insects, frogs, other birds, and mice. According to FeederWatch.org, an organization that compiles valuable data on migration and bird behavior by watching which birds visit bird feeders during the winter, grackles appear frequently near feeders that are set up as platforms, large hoppers, or on the ground.
A Common Bird In Need of Uncommon Help
Despite being a common bird across the United States, the grackle needs our help. While doing research for this article, I was deeply surprised and saddened to learn that grackle populations are falling. According to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, grackle populations worldwide have undergone a steep decline of 54% over the past 50 years. This decline has been so severe that this bird has been labeled as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that monitors the conservation status of species around the world. The loss of its natural habitats, deforestation, and climate change are the main causes behind the grackle’s decline. Despite the opinion of many farmers and others who see the grackle as a pest for their eating crops and garbage, this bird is far from being a nuisance and plays a critical role in maintaining a global nature network that is keeping the planet from collapsing.
To reverse this decline, there are several things you can do to help. You can plant native vegetation (such as conifer trees) that grackles use to build their nests. You can set up nest boxes near your house. Avoid using pesticides in your yard. Grackles are important foragers that distribute seeds of many plant species and their omnivorous diet helps keep insect and rodent populations down. Set up a bird feeder with food that grackles like to eat. If there’s a natural environment in your neighborhood that it is in your power to save, do it. Spread the word. The grackle shows that even the most resilient are not immune to the effects of climate change and that everyone needs some help in this period of planetary transition. Learn more about grackles and what they mean to you. Helping out this commonly seen but extraordinary bird may be just the start. If you’re interested in organizations you can join to help protect bird species across the planet, check out the following links below:
I hope you enjoyed this article on the Common Grackle. If you come away with anything from this article, I hope it’s this: grackles are so much more than their bright plumage, screechy call, and foraging behavior. They are intelligent beings that are experiencing this crucial moment on our planet together with us. The fate of birds species across the planet is in our hands. There is still so much we can learn from not only from grackles but from birds in general. Let’s give them a helping hand because they have done the same for us all along. Thank you for reading!
