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Great-tailed Grackle

Quiscalus mexicanus ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: ICTERIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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Great-tailed Grackle Photo

© Mary Tremaine/CLO

A large, noisy blackbird, the Great-tailed Grackle has been expanding its range in North America throughout the last century. A bird of open country with scattered trees and water, it took advantage of urbanization and irrigation to move northward from Mexico into much of western United States.

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Appearance

Blackbirds
Blackbirds
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • Large blackbird.
  • Very long tail.
  • Male shiny black, female brown.

Male Description

Iridescent black with purplish-blue sheen. Yellow eyes. Long, graduated, keel-shaped tail. Moderately long, strong black legs. Flat-topped head profile.

Female Description

Dusky brown with darker wings and tail. Yellow eye. Buffy eyestripe and throat. Cinnamon buff to buffy brown on belly. Long tail only slightly keeled, if at all. Bill black. Legs black.

Immature Description

Juvenile is brown like female, with streaked underparts and dark eyes.

Range Map Help

Great-tailed Grackle Range Map
View dynamic map of eBird sightings

Field MarksHelp

Similar Species

  • Common Grackle is smaller, with shorter tail and more restricted purple.
  • Boat-tailed Grackle is very similar, but tail is a little shorter and head is more rounded; voice is different. Also, the Gulf Coast form of Boat-tailed Grackle, the form most likely to be in the range of great-tailed, has dark eyes.