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Species authority page

Boat-tailed grackle

Quiscalus major · Unprotected and nuisance birds

Boat-tailed grackle (Quiscalus major): Male 38-50 cm with a long, rounded, wedge-shaped tail; entirely dark. Female much smaller (27-34 cm) than the male. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the boat-tailed grackle map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Boat-tailed grackle perched on a wooden rail
Adobe Stock · Standard License (asset 2078150007)
Scientific name
Quiscalus major
Family
Icteridae
In North America
Native
Range
Coastal eastern US from Long Island and New Jersey south through peninsular Florida and west along the Gulf coast to southeastern Texas; absent from the western Florida Panhandle. Not a Canadian species.
Biology

How to identify it

Male 38-50 cm with a long, rounded, wedge-shaped tail; entirely dark. [1][2]

Female much smaller (27-34 cm) than the male. [1][2]

Iris yellow from northeast Florida north; dark on the Texas-Louisiana coast (young great-tailed grackles also have dark eyes). [1][2]

Call is a harsh repeated 'jeeb', unlike the whistles and clucks of the great-tailed grackle. [1][2]

Compared with the great-tailed grackle: Slightly longer-tailed and less round-headed; whistles and clucks rather than harsh jeebs. [1][2]

Compared with the common grackle: Audubon points to it for identification in areas north of northeast Florida where boat-tailed has yellow eyes. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a boat-tailed grackle before you act. Compared with the great-tailed grackle: Slightly longer-tailed and less round-headed; whistles and clucks rather than harsh jeebs.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Marshes, beaches and coastal areas, almost always near water; inland only in Florida, generally near marshes and lakes. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Forages by walking on shore or in shallow water and steals food from larger birds [1][2]

Nests in noisy colonies near water; males display with wing-fluttering and harsh calls [1][2]

Mostly a permanent resident [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for removal or nuisance take

These authorities list this species as nuisance, invasive or unprotected wildlife that may be taken. This is not a game season.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Coastal eastern US from Long Island and New Jersey south through peninsular Florida and west along the Gulf coast to southeastern Texas; absent from the western Florida Panhandle. Not a Canadian species.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. National Audubon Society · reviewed 2026-09-30

    National Audubon Society

  2. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe