Home/Species/ Boat-tailed Grackle

Quiscalus major

Vieillot, 1819

Boat-tailed Grackle

G5Secure Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

LowThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103534

Element CodeABPBXB6060

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassAves

OrderPasseriformes

FamilyIcteridae

GenusQuiscalus

Other Common Names

Quiscale des marais (FR)

Concept Reference

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.

Taxonomic Comments

Formerly regarded as conspecific with Q. mexicanus, but sympatry without interbreeding known from Louisiana to Texas (AOU 1998). A sister taxon of Q. mexicanus and probably constitutes a superspecies with it (AOU 1998). See Avise and Zink (1988) for information on genetic divergence between Q. mexicanus and Q. major. Most closely related to Q. niger, according to a phylogeny based on morphological characteristics (Bjorklund 1991). However, mtDNA data indicate that Q. major and Q. mexicanus are sister taxa (Zink et al. 1991). Often placed in genus Cassidix (AOU 1998).

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2024-11-13

Change Date1996-12-04

Edition Date2024-11-13

Edition AuthorsGundy, R. L. (2024)

Threat ImpactLow

Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences81 to >300

Rank Reasons

This species is common along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the eastern United States. Loss of coastal wetland habitat continues to be a threat and the population is slowly declining.

Range Extent Comments

This species is endemic to the eastern United States. It has a coastal distribution from Long Island, New York and New Jersey south, throughout peninsular Florida, and west along Gulf coast to southeastern Texas (Post et al. 2020). It is notably absent from the western Florida Panhandle (Duncan and Duncan 2018). Using Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) (2024) records, range extent is estimated to be 2,020,804 km².

Occurrences Comments

There are hundreds of occurrences across the range.

Threat Impact Comments

Loss of coastal wetland habitat, both salt marsh and fresh water marshes, is a threat to nesting habitat. Sea-level rise may impact the habitat in the future.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Coastal salt marshes and barrier and sea islands, around ponds and streams (Florida peninsula), farmland, towns and cities. BREEDING: Nests generally near or over water, in willows, cattails, sawgrass, bulrushes; also up to 25 m in trees. See Dunham (1990) for information on nest-site selection in Florida.

Reproduction

Clutch size 1-5 (usually 2-3 in FL, Bancroft 1986). Two, some- times 3 broods/yr. Incubation 13-14 days, by female. Young tended by female, leave nest at 20-23 days. Nesting success varies greatly among localities & yrs. Usually colonial.

Terrestrial Habitats

Grassland/herbaceousSand/duneCropland/hedgerowSuburban/orchard

Palustrine Habitats

Riparian

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
Virginia	S4	Yes
New Jersey	S5B,S5N	Yes
Georgia	S5	Yes
South Carolina	S5	Yes
Alabama	S3	Yes
North Carolina	S5	Yes
Delaware	S4	Yes
Florida	S4	Yes
Maryland	S3	Yes
Mississippi	S4B	Yes
Louisiana	S5	Yes
Texas	S4B	Yes
New York	S3B	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
1 - Residential & commercial development	Large - restricted	Slight or 1-10% pop. decline	High (continuing)
1.1 - Housing & urban areas	Large - restricted	Slight or 1-10% pop. decline	High (continuing)
1.2 - Commercial & industrial areas	Large - restricted	Slight or 1-10% pop. decline	High (continuing)
1.3 - Tourism & recreation areas	Large - restricted	Slight or 1-10% pop. decline	High (continuing)
11 - Climate change & severe weather	Pervasive (71-100%)	Unknown	Moderate - low
11.1 - Habitat shifting & alteration	Pervasive (71-100%)	Unknown	Moderate - low

Roadless Areas (1)

Florida (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954

References (24)

American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Avise, J. C., and R. M. Zink. 1988. Molecular genetic divergence between avian sibling species: king and clapper rails, long-billed and short-billed dowitchers, boat-tailed and great-tailed grackles, and tufted and black-crested titmice. Auk 105:516-528.
Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus. Condor 73:287-302.
Bancroft, G. T. 1986. Nesting success and mortality of theboat-tailed grackle. Auk 103:86-99.
Bent, A.C. 1958. Life histories of North American blackbirds, orioles, tanagers, and their allies. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 211. Washington, DC.
Bjorklund, M. 1991. Evolution, phylogeny, sexual dimorphism and mating system in the grackles (QUISCALUS spp.: Icterinae). Evolution 45:608-621.
Duncan, R. A., and L. R. Duncan. 2018. The birds of Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa Counties, Florida, with bird migration, weather, and fallout. Revised 3rd Ed. Privately printed. 157 pp.
Dunham, M. L. 1990. Nest-site selection by boat-tailed grackles. Wilson Bull. 102:702-706.
Fink, D., T. Auer, A. Johnston, M. Strimas-Mackey, S. Ligocki, O. Robinson, W. Hochachka, L. Jaromczyk, C. Crowley, K. Dunham, A. Stillman, I. Davies, A. Rodewald, V. Ruiz-Gutierrez, and C. Wood. 2023. eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2022; Released: 2023. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. doi: 10.2173/ebirdst.2022
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2024. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2024).
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
Post, W., J. P. Poston, and G. T. Bancroft. 2020. Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Rosenberg, K.V, A.M. Dokter, P.J. Blancher, J.R. Sauer, A.C. Smith, P.A. Smith, J.C. Stanton, A. Panjabi, L. Helft, M. Parr, P.P. Marra. 2019. Decline of the North American avifauna. Science. Published online. 19 Sep 2019.
Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.
Zink, R. M., W. L. Rootes, and D. L. Dittman. 1991c. Mitochondrial DNA variation, population structure, and evolution of the common grackle (QUISCALUS QUISCALA). Condor 93:318-329.

Quiscalus major

Habitat

Reproduction

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