Quiscalus quiscula
Bill Horn, www.birdsofoklahoma.net
The Common Grackle is a
medium-sized bird which looks like a smaller version of a
crow. It can grow up to 12 inches long. They are black birds
with yellow eyes. Male Grackles have a purple irridescence
(a shiny purple glow). Grackles can be seen in
open woods, fields, parks, and lawns. These birds live in loose
colonies which may have from two to 100 birds.
Breeding
season is from late March to early August. Common Grackles usually
nest in pine trees or other evergreen
trees or shrubs.
Sometimes they will nest in deciduous
trees (ones that lose their leaves in Fall), and sometimes
they will even build a nest in cattails.
Backyard Birding and Our Feathered Friends
Grackles make their nest
into a cup of grass, twigs, weed stalks,
other plant materials, mud, paper, string, feathers, and
trash. They sometimes build them in tree cavities
(holes). Female grackles lay
between two and six eggs, which take about two weeks to
hatch. In another two to three weeks, the young grackles
will be ready to leave the nest. Ohio Division of Natural
Areas and Preserves
