Great-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus mexicanus
Summary 5
The great-tailed grackle or Mexican grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) is a medium-sized, highly social passerine bird native to North and South America. A member of the family Icteridae, it is one of ten extant species of grackle and is closely related to the boat-tailed grackle and the slender-billed grackle. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as a "blackbird" in the southern United States, although blackbirds belong to the genus Euphagus. Similarly, it is often called cuervoin areas of Mexico owing to its glossy black plumage, although it is not a member of the genus Corvus, nor even of the family Corvidae. Great-tailed grackles are medium-sized birds (larger than starlings and smaller than crows; 15-18 inches) and both sexes have long tails.[4] Males are iridescent black with a purple-blue sheen on the feathers of the head and upper body, while females are brown with darker wings and tail.[4] Adults of both sexes have bright yellow eyes, while juveniles of both sexes have brown eyes and brown plumage like females (except for streaks on the breast).[4] Great-tailed grackles, particularly the adult males, have a keel-shaped tail that they can fold vertically by aligning the two halves. The COSA is located relative near the edge of the Great-tailed Grackle's range, so while it can potentially be spotted year round, it is not common
Sources and Credits
- (c) Len Worthington, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/lennyworthington/15841279353/
- (c) Francesco Veronesi, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/30818542@N04/4398918226
- (c) Félix Uribe, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/24201429@N04/6988077523/
- (c) K Schneider, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/zonotrichia/15746834998/
- Adapted by dirstine from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiscalus_mexicanus
