Stats

Lifespan: 8-12 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Omnivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Flock
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: The Americas
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Herd Safety
Status: Common

About

The Great-tailed Grackle is a large, glossy-black icterid whose keel-shaped tail can equal its body length; males shimmer with iridescent blue-purple sheen and have striking bright-yellow eyes.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
2.
hatchling
A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
4.
adult
Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Icteridae
Genus: Quiscalus
Species: Quiscalus mexicanus