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Boat-tailed Grackle Identification

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The Four Keys to ID

  • Size & Shape

    Boat-tailed Grackles are large, lanky songbirds with rounded crowns, long legs, and fairly long, pointed bills. Males have very long tails that make up almost half their body length and that they typically hold folded in a V-shape, like the keel of a boat.

    Relative Size

    Smaller than a Fish Crow; larger than a Common Grackle.

    Relative Sizebetween robin and crowbetween robin and crow

    Measurements
    • Both Sexes
      • 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)

Regional Differences

Along the western Gulf Coast, Boat-tailed Grackles have dull, brownish eyes. Along the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast west to Mississippi, Boat-tailed Grackles have bright yellow eyes.