grackle
Americannoun
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any of several long-tailed American birds of the family Icteridae, especially of the genus Quiscalus, having usually iridescent black plumage.
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any of several Old World birds of the family Sturnidae, especially certain mynas.
noun
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Also called: crow blackbird. any American songbird of the genera Quiscalus and Cassidix, having a dark iridescent plumage: family Icteridae (American orioles)
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any of various starlings of the genus Gracula, such as G. religiosa ( Indian grackle or hill mynah )
Etymology
Origin of grackle
1765–75; < New Latin Gracula name of genus, based on Latin grāculus jackdaw
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.
Vocabulary lists containing grackle
Birds, Birds, Birds, List 2
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Vocabulary from Readings 1, Unit 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Some 90% of the total loss came from just 12 bird families and 19 widespread bird species such as the dark-eyed junco, common grackle and house sparrows.
From Reuters • Sep. 19, 2019
At Four O'Clock in the Morning 95 Purple grackle.
From A Bird-Lover in the West by Miller, Olive Thorne
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
