Bird of the Month: Common Grackle

Common Grackle. Photo by Jeff Bryant.

By Roger Digges, CCAS Vice-President

While June’s bird of the month can be found in our area year-round, you are far more likely to see it from early spring to late summer, especially in May and June. If you see it on a cloudy day, you might dismiss it as just another black bird, but when the sun comes out, this member of the blackbird family becomes a work of art, its iridescent purple head, glossy body, and striking yellow eyes making you take a second look. Its striking plumage, long body, and a long tail which can fold into a shallow V in flight, tells you this is a Common Grackle.

In winter, most grackles spend their time south of us, some as close as southern Illinois, others as far away as the Gulf Coast. When Common Grackles arrive here, they often form colonies of 10 to 30 nesting pairs, males competing to see who can raise their bills the highest, both males and females “singing” what sounds like a rusty gate.

Females soon begin to build bulky nests, usually in branches of dense trees or shrubs near water. They form cups of twigs, leaves, and grass along with bits of string or paper or cloth or corn husks or whatever else they find. They reinforce this cup with mud, and line it with soft grass or maybe animal hair. Some males may help with nest building, but most either continue their bill raising competition or just leave. Once a female finishes building her nest, she lays up to seven eggs and incubates them by herself. Some males may help with feeding nestlings, but most don’t.

Where can you find Common Grackles? If you already feed birds in your yard, you might see a grackle right outside your window. These birds are fond of sunflowers seeds, millet, and cracked corn, and will eat them from hopper feeders, platform feeder, or just scattered on the ground. (Note: If you do scatter food on the ground, just put out enough for the day. Seeds and grains left overnight may attract rodents.)

You can also find grackles in city parks, forest preserves, near ponds, marshes, open woodlands, anywhere there is open space for them to forage and nearby trees to take refuge in. Because I bird most often in Meadowbrook Park or Crystal Lake Park in Urbana, that’s where I have most reliably found Common Grackles. The meadow south of Prairie Play at Meadowbrook is a common hangout for them. But I’ve also see grackles in many other of our area parks and preserves. That’s why they call them “common.”

You might also see Common Grackles in or near farm fields. Unfortunately they are quite fond of young corn plants or maturing ears of corn, and a large flock can do considerable damage in a cornfield. To deter them, some farmers spray a chemical that makes corn sprouts taste bad. If that doesn’t work or is too expensive, and the problem is severe enough, farmers may obtain a federal depredation permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to capture or kill grackles on their land.

If you see a Common Grackle hunched over on the ground with its wings spread, don’t worry. It’s not injured. It’s “anting.” While more than 200 species worldwide, mostly songbirds, allow ants to crawl all over them, Common Grackles are especially avid “anters”. Ants secrete formic acid which kills parasites in the bird’s feathers.

How are Common Grackles doing? While there are more than 67 million of them across much of North America, Partners in Flight lists them as a “Common Bird in Steep Decline.” Researchers aren’t sure why, but control methods to protect crops are almost certainly a factor. More research is needed.

Next
Next

2025 Kendeigh Grant Awardees