There are 11 species of grackle. The boat-tailed grackle is found all through Florida and along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. and the Gulf Coast.
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| Boat-tailed grackle range from Wikipedia. |
The eye color varies with range. Gulf Coast and inland bird males have dark eyes while Atlantic Coast birds have pale eyes. The great-tailed grackle, which I saw in Villahermosa, Mexico, and which overlaps with the boat-tailed grackle along the Gulf Coast, has pale yellow eyes.
I saw this male boat-tailed grackle in the Viera Wetlands near the Atlantic Coast of Florida, near Melbourne.
I saw this female boat-tailed grackle at the Circle B Bar Reserve near Winter Haven, Florida. The female is dark brown above, russet below and has a pale eyebrow, dark cheek and pale mustache strip.
This is one instance when I think the female is prettier than the male, and she certainly doesn't have their weird eyes he has.
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