Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Great-tailed Grackle

Quiscalus mexicanus

(Gmelin, 1788)

Great-tailed Grackle

G5Secure Found in 66 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103041
Element CodeABPBXB6050
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyIcteridae
GenusQuiscalus
Other Common Names
Quiscale à longue queue (FR) Zanate Mexicano (ES)
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 considered conspecific with Q. major, but sympatry without interbreeding known from Louisiana to Texas (AOU 1998). A sister taxon to Q. major and they probably constitute a superspecies (AOU 1998). See Avise and Zink (1988) for information on genetic divergence between Q. mexicanus and Q. major. See Bjorklund (1991) for a phylogeny of quiscaline icterids based on morphological characteristics. MtDNA data indicate that Q. major and Q. mexicanus are sister taxa (Zink et al. 1991). Often placed in genus Cassidix (AOU 1983).
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-09
Change Date1996-12-04
Range Extent Comments
Resident from southeastern California and southern Nevada east to southern Nebraska and southwestern Missouri, south to South America (coastally to northwestern Peru and northwestern Venezuela). Breeding range is expanding. Recently nesting has occurred in Oregon and probably in Idaho (see Scheuering and Ivey 1995, Wilson Bull. 107:562-563).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Partly open situations with scattered trees, cultivated lands, pastures, shores of watercourses, swamps, wet thickets, around human habitation, sometimes in marshes. Often roosts in village shade trees or urban parks (Stiles and Skutch 1989). South America: common locally in mangroves and along shorelines and on lawns and in parks in towns and cities (Ridgely and Tudor 1989). Nests in trees, bushes, man-made structures, mostly near or over water; marsh vegetation where no trees or bushes are available near water. Sometimes nests in heron colony.

Ecology

Highly gregarious.

Reproduction

Clutch size is 3-4 in north, 2-3 in Costa Rica. Sometimes produces two broods per year. Incubation, by female, lasts 13-14 days. Young are tended by female, leave nest at 20-23 days. Usually nests in aggregations. Males polygynous.
Terrestrial Habitats
Grassland/herbaceousCropland/hedgerowSuburban/orchard
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDSCRUB-SHRUB WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
NevadaS5Yes
ArizonaS5Yes
ArkansasS3Yes
MissouriSNRYes
KansasS4B,S5NYes
NebraskaSNRNYes
WyomingSNRYes
CaliforniaSNRYes
TexasS5BYes
UtahS2Yes
IdahoS1BYes
Navajo NationS3B,S3NYes
New MexicoS5B,S5NYes
OklahomaSNRYes
MinnesotaSNRBYes
LouisianaS4Yes
ColoradoS4Yes
Roadless Areas (66)
Arizona (11)
AreaForestAcres
Ash CreekPrescott National Forest7,663
Black CanyonPrescott National Forest10,683
Black CrossTonto National Forest5,966
Butterfly Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest42,296
Cdo WsaCoronado National Forest1,955
GoldfieldTonto National Forest15,257
Horse MesaTonto National Forest9,146
MazatzalTonto National Forest16,942
PinalenoCoronado National Forest130,920
TumacacoriCoronado National Forest44,594
WhetstoneCoronado National Forest20,728
California (27)
AreaForestAcres
AgnewSequoia National Forest9,561
AntimonyLos Padres National Forest40,911
Black Mtn.Sequoia National Forest15,102
Cahuilla MountainSan Bernardino National Forest6,952
CajonSan Bernardino National Forest7,548
Cucamonga BSan Bernardino National Forest11,933
Cucamonga CSan Bernardino National Forest4,106
Devil GulchSierra National Forest30,490
Dry LakesLos Padres National Forest17,043
Ferguson RidgeSierra National Forest6,104
Glass MountainInyo National Forest52,867
Greenhorn CreekSequoia National Forest28,226
Hixon FlatSan Bernardino National Forest8,095
Horse Mdw.Inyo National Forest5,687
Log Cabin SaddlebagInyo National Forest15,165
Magic MountainAngeles National Forest15,542
Malduce BuckhornLos Padres National Forest14,177
MosesSequoia National Forest22,077
NordhoffLos Padres National Forest12,031
Raywood Flat BSan Bernardino National Forest11,373
Salt CreekAngeles National Forest11,022
San SevaineSan Bernardino National Forest6,866
Santa CruzLos Padres National Forest21,182
Sespe - FrazierLos Padres National Forest106,910
TequepisLos Padres National Forest9,080
White LedgeLos Padres National Forest18,632
WildhorseCleveland National Forest1,483
Idaho (1)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekCaribou-Targhee National Forest118,582
Nevada (4)
AreaForestAcres
Antelope - West 1Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest8,642
Bald Mtn.Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest41,598
South SchellHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest125,614
Table Mtn. - EastHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest87,789
New Mexico (9)
AreaForestAcres
Columbine - Hondo Wilderness Study AreaCarson National Forest43,739
Contiguous To Black & Aldo Leopold WildernessGila National Forest111,883
Contiguous To Gila Wilderness & Primitive AreaGila National Forest79,049
Devils CreekGila National Forest89,916
Gila BoxGila National Forest23,759
Meadow CreekGila National Forest34,167
Ortega PeakLincoln National Forest11,545
South Guadalupe MountainsLincoln National Forest20,930
West Face Sacramento MountainsLincoln National Forest41,176
South Dakota (1)
AreaForestAcres
Indian CreekBuffalo Gap National Grassland24,666
Texas (1)
AreaForestAcres
Big CreekNational Forests in Texas1,447
Utah (11)
AreaForestAcres
418027Uinta National Forest13,884
Clarkston Mtn.Caribou National Forest7,099
CottonwoodDixie National Forest6,754
Flat CanyonFishlake National Forest8,663
Lava BedsDixie National Forest14,944
Mt. AireWasatch-Cache National Forest9,681
North PavantFishlake National Forest53,262
Oak CreekFishlake National Forest54,053
Pine Valley MountainsDixie National Forest57,673
Stansbury MountainsWasatch-Cache National Forest39,696
WellsvilleWasatch-Cache National Forest1,717
Wyoming (1)
AreaForestAcres
Rock CreekMedicine Bow-Routt National Forest18,874
References (30)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. 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 <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. 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.
  4. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  5. Bent, A.C. 1958. Life histories of North American blackbirds, orioles, tanagers, and their allies. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 211. Washington, DC.
  6. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  7. Bjorklund, M. 1991. Evolution, phylogeny, sexual dimorphism and mating system in the grackles (QUISCALUS spp.: Icterinae). Evolution 45:608-621.
  8. Droege, S., and J.R. Sauer. 1990. North American Breeding Bird Survey, annual summary, 1989. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 90(8). 22 pp.
  9. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  10. Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
  11. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  12. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  13. Johnson, D. B., F. S. Guthery, and N. E. Koerth. 1989. Grackle damage damage to grapefruit in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 17:46-50.
  14. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  15. 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.
  16. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  17. Ridgely, R. S. 2002. Distribution maps of South American birds. Unpublished.
  18. Ridgely, R. S. and G. Tudor. 1989. The birds of South America. Volume 1. University of Texas Press, Austin, USA. 516 pp.
  19. Ridgely, R. S. and J. A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA.
  20. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  21. Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
  22. Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (<i>Cyanocitta cristata</i>). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  23. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  24. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  25. Tipton, A. R. 1989. Use of monofilament line, reflective tape, beachballs, and pyrotechnics for controlling grackle damage to citris. U.S. For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-171:126-128.
  26. Tipton, A. R., et al. 1989. Use of DRC-1339 and PA-14 to control grackle populations in the lower Rio Grande Valley. U.S. For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-171:133-137.
  27. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  28. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.
  29. 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.
  30. Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.