Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Common Grackles Eat Everything

By: Tom Berg

The common grackle is one of many blackbirds that we often see in our backyards, although they are larger and have longer tails than most other blackbirds like red-winged blackbirds, cowbirds and European starlings. They can often be seen hunting for food along the ground alone, but they will also travel in flocks.

Although the grackle is a blackbird, they are not completely black in color. One of the most striking features of the common grackle is the iridescent blue color of the male’s head that glistens in the sunlight. Their body appears to be black, but there are many subtle shades of bronze and purple mixed-in with the black feathers. Their bright yellow eye is also very conspicuous. Their large black bill is very strong and helps them crack open acorns and other tough foods.

The common grackle is an omnivorous bird, which simply means it will eat just about anything. They are often seen foraging on the ground for seeds and insects, and they have a habit of grabbing leaves and other ground litter with their beaks and flipping the stuff over to find any insects or spiders hiding underneath. Besides bugs and seeds, grackles often supplement their diet with larger prey like mice, salamanders, fish, worms, frogs, crayfish and fledgling birds – just to name a few. They also eat acorns, fruit, berries and even garbage.

One interesting habit of the common grackle is that they often stomp on ant nests and allow the ants to crawl all over their legs and feathers (a practice called anting). The ants release small amounts of formic acid as they try to sting the birds, and this acid helps get rid of parasites. Then the grackles eat the ants!

Although farmers consider grackles a pest since they eat large amounts of grain and sprouting corn in the springtime, the common grackle population is actually in decline, like many other birds of North America. Since 1966 the overall population has dropped by 58%. Luckily, the breeding population is still estimated to be over 60 million individuals, so they can still make a full recovery in time.

Have you done something interesting outdoors? Join Global Outdoors and write a review to tell everyone about it! We’re building the home for trusted reviews of outdoor experiences, outfitters, and guides.