Large, lanky blackbirds with long legs, a long tail, and a long and heavy bill. Adult males appear dark overall, but have an iridescent bluish head and bronzy body in good light.
Lanky blackbird with a long tail and heavy, long bill. Females are slightly less glossy than males.
The typical song, made by both males and females, is a guttural squeak accompanied by high-pitched, clear whistles. It lasts just less than a second and is often described as sounding like a rusty gate. While singing, males puff up their body feathers and spread their tails.
Struts on long legs, pecking for food rather than scratching.
Noisy and conspicuous blackbird with a long tail.
Females of the purple form can be similarly colored to males, but note the shorter tail that lacks a paddle shape.
Females can be very dark, notably those of the bronze form.
Lanky blackbird with a long tail and hefty bill. Immatures are brownish overall, with a dark eye, and less glossy than adults.
Common Grackles are large, lanky blackbirds with long legs and long tails. The head is flat and the bill is longer than in most blackbirds, with the hint of a downward curve. In flight, the wings appear short in comparison to the tail. Males are slightly larger than females.
Larger than a Red-winged Blackbird; about the same size as a Mourning Dove
robin-sizedThe “bronzed grackle” race of the Common Grackle, breeding roughly west of the Appalachians and in New England, has the characteristic bronzy back. Birds of the Southeast, from North Carolina to Louisiana, often called the “Florida grackle,” are darker green on the back rather than bronzy, and they're purple on the belly. An intermediate race along the Eastern seaboard is sometimes called the purple grackle.
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