Grackle is a name given to 11 species of birds in North and South America in which all of the adult males are all black, or mostly black. The Greater Antillean grackle is one of those 11 species. The male is glossy black and has a large rudder-like tail. The female is smaller, less glossy, and has a smaller tail. Its yellow eyes are the only non-black body part.
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| It is very distinctive with its yellow eyes and large bulbous tail. |
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| A view from the back shows that the wide tail is kept up and down rather than sideways. |
There are seven subspecies of Greater Antillean grackle, 2 found in Cuba, and one each on Grand Cayman Island, Little Cayman Island, Jamaica, Hispanolia and Puerto Rico. I saw the grackles in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The differences between them relate to size, bill size and color tone.
That yellow eye is really creepy.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that distinctive tail. Rudder is a good description for it.
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