Boat-tailed Grackle
Quiscalus major
Large, lanky blackbird with rounded crown and long tail. Males have ridiculously long tails, almost as long as their body, often held in a V-shape like the keel of boat. Males are glossy black. Females are brown, with subtle face pattern. Eye color ranges from brown along western Gulf Coast to yellow on Atlantic Coast. Strictly coastal, except in Florida where they occur inland (often around human development). Overlaps with similar Great-tailed Grackle on Texas coast, but occurs more strictly in coastal saltmarshes and has dark eye (not pale).
识别特征
The male boat-tailed grackle is 37–43 cm (15–17 in) long and weighs 165–250 g (5.8–8.8 oz). Adult males have entirely iridescent black plumage, a long dark bill, a pale yellowish or brown iris, and a long keel-shaped tail. The adult female is much smaller at 26–33 cm (10–13 in) long and a weight of 90–115 g (3.2–4.1 oz). She is also distinguished by her shorter tail and tawny-brown coloration, which covers the body apart from the darker wings and tail. The wingspan in adult birds is 39–50 cm (15–20 in). In standard measurements, this species measures 13–20 cm (5.1–7.9 in) along the wing bone, 11–20 cm (4.3–7.9 in) in tail length, 2–4.2 cm (0.79–1.65 in) along the culmen, and 3.6–5.8 cm (1.4–2.3 in) along the tarsus. On average, the boat-tailed grackle weighs about 10% more than the closely related great-tailed grackle, although the male great-tailed grackle has an even longer tail.<p>Young males are black but lack the adult's iridescence. Immature females are duller versions of the adult female and have blotches or spots on the breast. The eye color of the boat-tailed grackle varies with range. Gulf Coast and inland birds have dark eyes, whereas Atlantic birds have pale eyes.
分类信息
The boat-tailed grackle was first described by French naturalist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819. Its specific epithet major means "larger" in Latin. Despite its restricted range, there are four subspecies of the boat-tailed grackle, differing in size and iris color. The boat-tailed grackle was once considered the same species as the great-tailed grackle. The great-tailed species is generally quite similar of slightly smaller body size but has a longer tail and lacks this species' distinct domed head shape. The common grackle, with which the boat-tailed species often overlaps along the Atlantic coastline, is noticeably smaller and shorter-tailed, as well as lacking the domed head shape. [citation needed]
- 学名
- Quiscalus major
- 命名信息
- Vieillot, 1819
- 目
- Passeriformes
- 科
- Icteridae
- 属
- Quiscalus
分布与栖息地
The boat-tailed grackle is found in coastal saltwater marshes and, in Florida, also on inland waters.[citation needed] In salt marsh areas, least bitterns will often associate with and make mixed colonies with grackles. Boat-tailed grackles have established significant populations in several United States Gulf Coast cities and towns, [citation needed] where they can be found foraging in trash bins, dumpsters, and parking lots.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
保护状况
- 种群趋势
- rising
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Yellow-spectacled Heleia
Heleia wallacei
A small green songbird with a bright yellow head and a distinctive orange forehead smudge. Gray belly separates yellow throat and yellow base to undertail. Adults dark-eyed, juveniles pale-eyed. Pairs and groups inhabit dry, open areas in the lowlands and lower hills, such as savanna, scrub, forest patches, and thickets, avoiding dense forests. Restricted to the Lesser Sundas. Separated from Lemon-bellied, Ashy-bellied, and Warbling White-eyes by lack of a white eye-ring and presence of an orange forehead patch. Song is a descending stuttering warble. Also gives jarring churrs and twittering notes.
Black-necked Crane
Grus nigricollis
A regal, rather thickset crane of highland lakes and wet pastures. Pale-bodied with a black neck, a dark drooping ‘bustle’ of elongated feathers above the tail, and a patch of bare red skin on the crown. Winters at lower altitudes, along the shorelines of large lakes and flooded agricultural fields. It may be confused for the smaller and more abundant Common Crane; look out for the all-dark neck and tail.
Masked Yellowthroat
Geothlypis aequinoctialis
Skulking warbler of grassy areas such as overgrown fields and marshes. Male has a striking black bandit mask, and his gray crown helps to separate him from other yellowthroats in range. Female is plain and confusing; she is yellower on the belly than female Common Yellowthroat, and tends to have darker upperparts than Olive-crowned Yellowthroat. Female also similar to female Yellow Warbler, but has a thicker bill and darker back. Song is a rather variable series of sweet whistles; also give a short, descending churr. Pairs usually stay hidden in dense vegetation. Males occasionally come up to sing or call from a more exposed perch. Note its range; after a taxonomical update, this species ranges only in northern South America.
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