Carib Grackle

Quiscalus lugubris

Common in northern South America and the Lesser Antilles. Found in a variety of open habitats, including around towns and cities, especially abundant along the coast. Male is glossy black with a pointed bill and a yellow eye. Tail is fairly long and wedge-shaped. Females are dark grayish-brown with slightly paler on underparts and a yellow eye. Smaller and shorter-tailed than Great-tailed Grackle.

Identification

The adult male Carib grackle is 27 cm (11 in) long with a long wedge-shaped tail, although the latter is not so long as other grackles. Its plumage is entirely black with a violet iridescence, its eyes are yellow, and it has a strong dark bill. The adult female is 23 cm (9.1 in) long, with a shorter tail and brown plumage, darker on the upperparts. Young males are shorter tailed than adult males and have some brown in the plumage. Young females are very similar to the adult females.<p>The seven island subspecies differ from the nominate one in size, plumage shade (especially in the browns of the females), and vocalisations.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Quiscalus lugubris
Authority
Swainson, 1838
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Icteridae
Genus
Quiscalus

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Behavior

The Carib grackle is a highly gregarious species, foraging on the ground for insects, other invertebrates, small fish, small frogs, lizards, or scraps. It is also known to catch small bats in the air. It can become very tame and bold, entering restaurants to seek food, normally feeding on leftovers. It will form groups to attack potential predators, such as dogs, mongooses or humans, and at night it roosts colonially.

Conservation

Population trend
stable

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Other Birds

Jacky-winter

Jacky-winter

Microeca fascinans

Small Australian robin, gray-brown above and pale below; often swings tail side to side when perched. Dark tail with prominent white outer tail feathers, absent in similar Kimberley subspecies of Lemon-bellied Flyrobin. Female Hooded Robin similar but with darker wing showing pale panels. Female Golden Whistler much larger and plumper, with a thick bill and yellow lower belly. Usually in pairs in open woodlands, where it perches prominently, often on stumps and posts. Hunts by plucking prey from the ground, in typical Australian robin style.

Short-tailed Babbler

Short-tailed Babbler

Pellorneum malaccense

Long-legged babbler with an almost nonexistent stump for a tail, found in primary and secondary evergreen lowland and foothill forest. Warm brown overall with paler underparts and a gray face with slightly moustached appearance. Upright stance and general profile make it seem almost pitta-like. Forages on or very close to the ground. Not as social as other forest babblers: typically encountered singly or in pairs. Calls are often dry and insect-like or mechanical. Song comprises a beginning phrase of dry chattering notes and a series of around half a dozen descending whistles.

Bonelli's Eagle

Bonelli's Eagle

Aquila fasciata

Medium-sized, athletically proportioned eagle, with streaked whitish underparts contrasting with dark wings and tail. Juveniles are rufous below, and lack the adult’s broad dark band at the tip of the tail. Found in forests or mountains, sometimes in more open habitats in winter; usually in remote areas. Builds nests on cliffs and ledges, and in caves. Distinctive in flight: note bulging secondaries and narrowness of wing where it meets the body. Usually seen soaring over distant ridgelines, when the shallow “fingers” to its wings are obvious in contrast to the deep fingers of other eagles.

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