grackle

American  

[grak-uhl] / ˈgræk əl /

noun

• grackles
  plural

1. any of several long-tailed American birds of the family Icteridae, especially of the genus Quiscalus, having usually iridescent black plumage.

2. any of several Old World birds of the family Sturnidae, especially certain mynas.

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grackle British  

/ ˈɡrækəl /

noun

1. Also called: crow blackbird. any American songbird of the genera Quiscalus and Cassidix, having a dark iridescent plumage: family Icteridae (American orioles)

2. any of various starlings of the genus Gracula, such as G. religiosa ( Indian grackle or hill mynah )

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• grackles
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of grackle

1765–75; < New Latin Gracula name of genus, based on Latin grāculus jackdaw

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Explanation

A grackle is a shiny black bird that is commonly found in cities and backyards in the eastern part of North America. When grackles gather in groups, their harsh calls can sound like the electric buzzing of a power line. Grackles are larger than blackbirds and smaller than crows, with elongated beaks and legs. They appear black, but their feathers are beautifully iridescent in the sunshine, shining with blue and green. Grackles are scrappy foragers that are nearly omnivorous, and they tend to bully smaller birds away from bird feeders. Most scarecrows are actually used to frighten grackles, not crows.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grackle grackles

It may have been a grackle, a goose, or some other wild bird that infected a cow in northern Texas.

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024

Researchers investigating the great-tailed grackle, a bird that has been establishing new populations across North America in the past few decades, reveal that behavior might play a key role in their success.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2023

He’s as close to a legit NFL head coach as a grackle is to an attack helicopter.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 14, 2021

The crow and the grackle in the “Black and part Black” pictures are particularly nuanced.

From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2020

There is also Brewer’s or the blue-headed grackle, S. cyanocephalus, which has a more western range, not occurring to the eastward of Kansas and Minnesota.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various

Oddly, the dead birds on infected farms were not waterfowl, the migratory birds that typically spread the avian flu viruses to poultry, but “peridomestic” species such as grackles, blackbirds, and pigeons.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 4, 2024

Under uncertainty, how do male grackles 'outlearn' female grackles?

From Science Daily ● Apr. 2, 2024

There are the sleek black grackles that attack the birds and destroy their nests, as well as constant construction projects that replace flower gardens with concrete.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2023

I sit here now, facing the feeder I hung outside my office window, watching the sparrows, bluejays, cardinals and grackles eating the seeds I put out for them and I feel . . . something.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2023

In the small town of Donovan the robins had been wiped out, as had the grackles, starlings, and brown thrashers.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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