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Common Grackle

(Quiscalus quiscula)

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Size             : 10 - 16 inches long

Description      : Male   - glossy black with purple, bronze, blue, or green iridescence on
                            head and shoulders (depending on species); long tail
                   Female - same as male

Preferred Habitat: Lawns, edge of woods, parks, residential areas, and farmland

Preferred food   : Corn, suet, sunflower seeds, nutmeats, wheat, insects, fruit.
                   Will also eat animal matter, such as a field mouse, a sparrow, other birds' 
                   nestlings, small crustaceans, snakes, frogs, salamanders, and snails  

Breeding Range   : Newfoundland to southern Northwest Territory, south to New Mexico, the Gulf States
                   and Florida 

Winter Range     : Central New England and New Jersey, west to Kansas, south to eastern Texas,
                   the Gulf states and Florida

Interesting Facts: If offered hard bread products, they will dunk them in water before eating
                   Very adaptable
                   Often first to discover new feeder
                   Prefer nesting in evergreens, 3 to 30 feet from the ground
                   Eat or carry away the fecal sacs of nestlings
                   Male will help female feed the nestings for the twelve days they stay in
                   the nest only if he hasn't found a new mate 
                   Beneficial to lawns because they devour thousands of grubs