Songs
Great-tailed Grackles make an impressive array of sounds, ranging from sweet, tinkling notes to what one biologist described as “calls so loud they were best heard at a distance.” Other descriptions include “rusty gate hinge” and “machinery badly in need of lubrication.” The male’s territorial song includes a sound like crackling brush, a rapid-fire ki ki ki repeated 1–12 times, mechanical rattling notes, and a shrieking, high-pitched whistle.
Calls
When ready to mate, both sexes give a “solicitation call” of clear cheat or che notes. Both males and females also make a low-pitched, hard chut alarm call, and males give a loud clack in response to humans and other predators. Females “chatter” when building the nest and when incubating eggs and feeding young.
