The Greater Antillean grackle is a grackle found throughout the Greater Antilles, as well as smaller nearby islands. Like all Quiscalus grackles, it is a rather large, gregarious bird. It lives largely in heavily settled areas.
Region
Caribbean
Typical Environment
Occurs across the Greater Antilles, including Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the Cayman Islands, as well as some nearby islets. It thrives in urban and suburban settings, agricultural landscapes, mangroves, coastal scrub, and open woodlands. Often found near water, harbors, and beaches where food is plentiful. Adaptable to human presence, it readily colonizes parks, gardens, and roadside groves.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The Greater Antillean grackle is a bold, highly gregarious blackbird common around towns, farms, and coastal areas throughout the Greater Antilles. Males are glossy and larger than females, which are browner and more subdued. They often form large communal roosts and readily exploit human-altered environments, scavenging around markets, beaches, and parks.
Temperament
social and bold
Flight Pattern
strong direct flier with short rapid wingbeats and brief glides
Social Behavior
Often seen in noisy flocks, especially at feeding sites and communal evening roosts in trees or mangroves. Nests are typically placed in small colonies in palms or other trees, with pairs defending immediate nest areas. Displays include tail-fanning and body posturing by males during courtship.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Vocalizations are a mix of sharp squeaks, metallic clicks, whistles, and harsh croaks. Males deliver loud, varied songs from exposed perches, often during display. Calls carry well in urban soundscapes.
Plumage
Males are sleek, glossy black with strong iridescent purple-blue sheen; females are smaller with duller brownish-black plumage. Feathers appear smooth and tight, with a distinctive long, keeled tail. The plumage can look oil-slicked in bright light due to iridescence.
Diet
An opportunistic omnivore, it eats insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, along with grains, seeds, and fruit. It readily scavenges human food scraps and may take small vertebrates, eggs, or hatchlings when available. Foraging methods include ground gleaning, probing seaweed wrack, and snatching prey from low vegetation.
Preferred Environment
Frequently forages on lawns, shorelines, garbage-strewn areas, parking lots, and open fields. Also feeds along mangrove edges and in agricultural lands where spilled grain and insects are abundant.
