{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{speciesbox | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2025 |title=''Quiscalus major'' |article-number=e.T22724311A136662294 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T22724311A136662294.en}}</ref> | image = Boat Tailed Grackle Male JG.jpg | image_caption = Breeding Male | image2 = Boat Tailed Grackle Female JG.jpg | image2_caption = Female | genus = Quiscalus | species = major | authority = Vieillot, 1819 | range_map = Quiscalus major map.svg | range_map_caption = Range of ''Q. major'' {{leftlegend|#447821|Year-round range|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#D45500|Wintering range|outline=gray}} }}
The '''boat-tailed grackle''' ('''''Quiscalus major''''') is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found as a permanent resident on the coasts of the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States.
==Habitat== The boat-tailed grackle is found in coastal saltwater marshes and across the Florida peninsula.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Boat-tailed Grackle Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology |url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Boat-tailed_Grackle/lifehistory |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=www.allaboutbirds.org |language=en}}</ref> In salt marsh areas, least bitterns will often associate with and make mixed colonies with grackles.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Post |first1=William |last2=Seals |first2=Carol A. |date=1993 |title=Nesting Associations of Least Bitterns and Boat-Tailed Grackles |journal=The Condor |volume=95 |issue=1 |pages=139–144|doi=10.2307/1369395 |jstor=1369395 }}</ref> Boat-tailed grackles have established significant populations in several United States Gulf Coast cities and towns, using human activity as protection against predation and scavenging through human trash. Urban boat-tailed grackle populations can be found foraging in trash bins, parking lots, and outdoor restaurant patios.<ref name=":1" /> ==Breeding== The nest is a well-concealed cup in trees and shrubs near water; the average clutch size is just over three eggs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tutor |first=Billy M. |date=1962 |title=Nesting Studies of the Boat-tailed Grackle |journal=The Auk |volume=79 |issue=1 |pages=77–84|doi=10.2307/4082451 |jstor=4082451 }}</ref>
Male boat-tailed grackles compete to defend and mate with a harem of closely nesting females, although DNA evidence shows that females often successfully mate with other males while away from their colony, with only about a quarter of the young being fathered by the dominant male.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Boat-tailed Grackle Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology |url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Boat-tailed_Grackle/overview |access-date=2025-07-03 |website=www.allaboutbirds.org |language=en}}</ref> ==Description== The male boat-tailed grackle is {{convert|37|-|43|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and weighs {{convert|165|-|250|g|oz|abbr=on}}.<ref name=enature/> Adult males have entirely iridescent black plumage, a long dark bill, a pale yellowish or brown iris, and a long keel-shaped tail. The adult female is much smaller at {{convert|26|-|33|cm|in|abbr=on|adj=on}} long and a weight of {{convert|90|-|115|g|oz|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Bancroft1984/> She is also distinguished by her shorter tail and tawny-brown coloration, which covers the body apart from the darker wings and tail. The wingspan in adult birds is {{convert|39|-|50|cm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name=AAB/> In standard measurements, this species measures {{convert|13|-|20|cm|in|abbr=on}} along the wing bone, {{convert|11|-|20|cm|in|abbr=on}} in tail length, {{convert|2|-|4.2|cm|in|abbr=on}} along the culmen, and {{convert|3.6|-|5.8|cm|in|abbr=on}} along the tarsus.<ref name= Jaramillo/> On average, the boat-tailed grackle weighs about 10% more than the closely related great-tailed grackle, although the male great-tailed grackle has an even longer tail.<ref name= Jaramillo/><ref name=CRC/>
Young males are black but lack the adult's iridescence. Immature females are duller versions of the adult female and have blotches or spots on the breast. The eye color of the boat-tailed grackle varies with range. Gulf Coast and inland birds have dark eyes, whereas Atlantic birds have pale eyes.<ref name=bto/> [[File:Quiscalus major-male perching.jpg|thumb|Atlantic coast male with yellow eyes at Assateague Island National Seashore.]] ==Taxonomy== The boat-tailed grackle was first described by French naturalist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819. Its specific epithet ''major'' means "larger" in Latin. Despite its restricted range, there are four subspecies of the boat-tailed grackle, differing in size and iris color. The boat-tailed grackle was once considered the same species as the great-tailed grackle. The great-tailed species is generally quite similar of slightly smaller body size but has a longer tail and lacks this species' distinct domed head shape. The common grackle, with which the boat-tailed species often overlaps along the Atlantic coastline, is noticeably smaller and shorter-tailed, as well as lacking the domed head shape. {{citation needed|date= July 2023}} ==Diet== They forage on the ground, in shallow water, or in shrubs; they will steal food from other birds, animals, or humans. They are omnivorous opportunistic feeders, eating insects, crustaceans, minnows, frogs, eggs, berries, seeds, grain, and even small birds.<ref name=":0" /> ==Call== Its song is a harsh ''jeeb'', and it has a variety of typically grackle-like chatters and squeaks. Their call lacks of whistles and clucks typical of the great-tailed grackle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boat-tailed Grackle {{!}} Audubon Field Guide |url=https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/boat-tailed-grackle |access-date=2025-07-03 |website=www.audubon.org |language=en}}</ref>
thumb|Boat-Tailed Grackle
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="120"> File:Boat-tailed Grackleon sanibel Island, Florida.jpg|Male vocalizing on Sanibel Island, Florida File:Quiscalus major-female.jpg|Female at [https://www.outerbanks.com/rodanthe.html Rodanthe Public Beach], North Carolina File:Boat-Tailed Grackle.jpg|Male at Deerfield Beach, Florida File:GatheringOfGrackles.jpg|A gathering of Grackles at Winding Waters Nature Area, Florida </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=AAB>{{Cite AllAboutBirds|Boat-tailed Grackle|accessdate=5 March 2013}} {{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/boat-tailed_grackle/lifehistory |title=Boat-tailed Grackle, Life History, All About Birds – Cornell Lab of Ornithology |publisher=Allaboutbirds.org |access-date=2013-03-05}}</ref>
<ref name=Bancroft1984>{{cite journal |last=Bancroft |first=G.T. |jstor=1366822 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v086n04/p0423-p0432.pdf |title=Growth and sexual dimorphism of the Boat-tailed Grackle |journal=Condor |volume=86 |issue=4 |pages=423–432 |doi=10.2307/1366822 |year=1984}}</ref>
<ref name=bto>{{cite web |website=eBird.org |url=http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/grackles |title=Grackles – Are you getting them right?}}</ref>
<ref name=CRC>{{Cite book |title=CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses |editor-first=John B. |editor-last=Dunning Jr. |publisher=CRC Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-8493-4258-5}}</ref>
<ref name=enature>{{cite web |url=http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=BD0337 |title=FieldGuides: Species Detail |publisher=eNature |access-date=5 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623151002/http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=BD0337 |archive-date=23 June 2013 }}</ref>
<ref name= Jaramillo>{{cite book |title=New World Blackbirds: The Icterids |first1=Alvaro |last1=Jaramillo |first2=Peter |last2=Burke |publisher=Christopher Helm Publishing |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7136-4333-6}}</ref> }}
==External links== {{Commons category|Quiscalus major}} {{Wikispecies|Quiscalus major}} * [https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/index.php/download_file/view/1358/724/ Boat-tailed grackle at Florida Bird Sounds (Florida Museum of Natural History)] * {{BirdLife|22724311|Quiscalus major}} * {{Avibase|name=Quiscalus major}} * {{InternetBirdCollection|boat-tailed-grackle-quiscalus-major|Boat-tailed grackle}} * {{VIREO|Boat-tailed+grackle}} * {{IUCN_Map|22724311/94859792|Quiscalus major}} * {{Xeno-canto species|Quiscalus|major|Boat-tailed grackle}} * {{inaturalist taxon|9601}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1589368}}
boat-tailed grackle Category:Native birds of the Southeastern United States Category:Endemic birds of the Eastern United States boat-tailed grackle boat-tailed grackle Category:Birds of the United States Category:Least concern biota of the United States