Identification - This large blackbird is a little larger than a robin. Its body is a glossy black with pale eyes and a long tail which is keel-shaped and very noticeable in flight. The body of Common Grackles in the southeastern United Sates have a purple gloss while in the rest of the species' range it shows a bronzey gloss on the back and breast.
Morsels - Blackbirds, including grackles, like to flock together after the breeding season, especially to roost in the evening. The size of such nightly roosts can be astounding. During the winter of 1974-75 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service counted 723 major gathering roosts with a total of 438 million blackbirds and 99 million starlings in the Lower Forty Eight States. The biggest roosts were in the lower Mississippi valley.