Boat-tailed Grackle

Quiscalus major

 (m L 16.5" WS 23" Wt 8 oz)

(f L 14.5" WS 17.5" Wt 4.2 oz)

Eye color varies...N of Fla. are straw-
colored, in Fla. are dark, from Fla. to La.
are light, and further west are dark.

The grackle’s voice is less than mellow,

His heart is black, his eye is yellow,

He bullies more attractive birds

With hoodlum deeds and vulgar words,

And should a human interfere,

Attacks that human in the rear.

I cannot help but deem the grackle

An ornithological debacle.

                   (Ogden Nash)

 

Pinckney Island NWR

So. Carolina

27Apr2011

female