Find Common Grackle Audubon Bird with sound, plus facts and information in the Aviary.

The plush Grackle Audubon Bird with sound shown at left was made by Wild Republic and was part of their Audubon Birds collection. These birds are unique in that when squeezed they will utter their own particular call. Wild Republic has discontinued most of their Audubon Bird Line. The Grackle is one that has been discontinued.

The Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) is about the size of a Jay (12 inches) and when seen in the sunlight reveals the beautiful iridescent colors of its generally black body. The eyes are yellow. The tail is long and keel-shaped. The female is smaller and more of a dull brownish black. This bird isn't known for its song, it rather clucks and screeches.

You'll find this bird on neighborhood lawns, parks and fields and open woodlands. Its range is on the eastern two thirds of the US but is expanding into parts of Idaho and Washington. Also found in Canada. It travels in flocks, especially in the spring.

Its diet is mostly insects and grain, but it will also go after the young of small birds as well as the eggs. It has a bulky nest, similar to a Jay, made of sticks and lined with grass and placed in a tree or bush. The clutch consists of 5 pale blue eggs that are speckled with black.