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.
© Sarah Dzielski | Macaulay LibraryLouisiana, March 27, 2016Common 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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