Life List 053
Visually documented
Great-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus mexicanus
- First photographed
- June 2, 2026
- First location
- Colorado, United States
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
An evolving study
Great-tailed Grackle portfolio
This collection grows as I return to photograph new behavior, habitat, seasons, and stages of life.
Natural history
Species at a glance
Quiscalus mexicanus
Overview
The Great-tailed Grackle is a conspicuous, highly adaptable blackbird whose North American range has expanded dramatically. It gathers in noisy colonies and communal roosts around wetlands, farms, and cities.
Identification
Adult males are glossy black with a yellow eye and an exceptionally long, keel-shaped tail often held in a deep V. Females are substantially smaller and warm brown with paler underparts and a long tail.
Range
Resident from the southwestern and south-central United States through Mexico and Central America into northwestern South America, with continuing expansion northward and westward.
Habitat
Marshes, irrigated fields, feedlots, urban parks, parking lots, shorelines, and other open or developed areas near water.
Diet
Insects, aquatic animals, small vertebrates, grain, seeds, fruit, carrion, and human food scraps.
Photography by Brittany Templin
Bring the story of the Great-tailed Grackle into your project or space.
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