One of the most despised and yet also the most wonderful of birds.
The common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) is common through most of North America. It's about a foot long with a long, dark bill, yellow eyes, a long tail, and dark iridescent feathers on the head and wings. Female grackles are a bit smaller and less iridescent.
It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 edition of the Systema Naturae and given the taxonomy Gracula quiscula. In the 1816 Dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot assigned it to the genus Quiscalus. There are three recognized subspecies of the bird: the Florida grackle, the purple grackle, and the bronzed grackle.
Grackles are omnivorous and will eat seeds, grain, berries, insects, eggs, frogs, minnows, and even small birds and rodents. They love to eat regular ol' people food when they can get it. They forage for food on the ground, in shrubs, and in shallow waters. They'll also eat at bird feeders, but once they get started, they tend to monopolize the feeders and not let other birds have anything, but if you scare them off, they'll stay gone for a while so they can look for easier pickins.
During mating season, male grackles will fluff up their feathers and run around in front of females, all while raising a ruckus. Females rarely look like they're all that impressed with this display, but hey, more grackles keep getting born, so it must be working out okay. Female grackles lay 4-7 eggs in each clutch.
Grackles like to nest in dense trees, especially pines, as they help conceal their nests. They'll also nest in man-made structures or birdhouses, and they also like to nest in large colonies. They migrate rarely, though grackles in the north may periodically migrate to the Southeastern U.S.
Grackles are also gloriously, ear-splittingly noisy. They shriek, they trill, they crackle, they beep, they buzz, they whistle, they caterwaul joyously. They're also able to mimic other bird songs and even humans, but not as well as other bird mimics like mockingbirds or ravens.
In groups, they're referred to as a plague of grackles, which just seems mean. They're just hanging out in giant groups, man! Screaming! Ain't nothing wrong with sitting in trees screaming!
Grackles like to live near people, especially farmers. Farmers have grain; grackles want grain. Obviously, the relationship is often one-sided. Farmers don't like grackles eating their crops. People in residential areas don't like grackles nesting in nearby trees and chattering and screaming for long hours of the day. Also too: grackle poop is pretty nasty on your car. And that isn't entirely working out for grackles. Their populations are still pretty healthy, but they have declined significantly from their highest points in the past. The International Union for Conservation in Nature even classifies them as "Near Threatened."
Grackles are disliked by many people, mostly because they're loud, and because they congregate in large groups, which makes them even louder. Well, all opinions are subjective and there's no accounting for taste, but I love these guys. I love their bright yellow eyes, shiny black feathers, and the endless variety of their screams and whistles. I like their stiff-legged walk. I like watching the males puff their feathers up and the females mostly ignore them. I like seeing hundreds of them in trees and parking lots.
Here's the funniest thing I've ever seen involving grackles. I was out in the park one spring when I saw two grackles involved in the eternal dance of grackle love -- a male with his feathers ruffled up, running around a female, screaming "CHEE CHEE CHEE CHEE!" I'm sure to them, it sounded more like this:
Male grackle: "HEY BAY-BEE! HEY BAY-BEE!"
Female grackle: "Oh my lands! What gallivanting! I do declare!"
After a moment, a collared dove flies down and lands right next to the male grackle.
Dove: "Hey, George, whatcha doin'?"
Female grackle, flying away: "Oh my! A ruffian!"
Male grackle, visibly deflating and glaring at the dove: "Dammit, Lennie, why you gotta stick your beak in my courtin'?"
Dove: "Sorry, George, just wanted to say hi!"
Male grackle: "Shut up, Lennie, let's go eat some beetles."
Aaaand scene!
Anyway, that's why grackles are the most wonderful of birds!