The Boat-tailed Grackle is sexually dimorphic, and it is a large blackbird with a very long, keeled tail. Northern birds have pale eyes, while Florida and Gulf Coast birds have dark eyes.

Males are much larger than females, and are entirely blackish, with a purple gloss to the head and greenish gloss to the body.

Females are smaller than males, and are rusty-brownish in color with darker wings. They have a dark line through each eye.

Boat-tailed Grackles are resident along most of the mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the U.S. The population is stable or increasing, and has expanded its range north in recent decades.

More information:

Bent Life History

Visit the Bent Life History for extensive additional information on the Boat-tailed Grackle.

Wing Shape

The shape of a bird's wing is often an indication of its habits and behavior. Fast flying birds have long, pointed wings. Soaring birds have long, broad wings. Different songbirds will have a slightly different wing shape. Some species look so much alike (Empidonax flycatchers) that scientists sometimes use the length of specific feathers to confirm a species' identification.

• Male, North Carolina, Nov. (molting)
• From below
• Female, North Carolina, Nov.
• From below

Wing images from the University of Puget Sound, Slater Museum of Natural History

Boat-tailed Grackles were once considered to be of the same species as Great-tailed Grackles, but their ranges overlap along the western Gulf Coast and they do not interbreed.

There are four subspecies of Boat-tailed Grackles, helping account for the differences in eye color.