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(Blackbird, Purple Grackle)
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Genus: Quiscalus
Species: quiscula
La. passer sparrow, small bird
La. forma form, kind, species
La. fringilla a small bird
Castilian quisquilla dispute
About twelve inches long. Black all over with purple, blue
and green iridescent tints. Staring black pupil centered in a bright yellow iris. Long
tail which it uses to steer with in flight. |
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| Abundant throughout North America east of
a general line from New Mexico to northern British Columbia. Birds located in the northern
range migrate.
Builds nests of twigs, grass, hay, sometimes cemented with mud lined
with fine grass between six and sixty feet high on branches preferably in coniferous
trees, although not picky and sometimes in tree hollows and abandoned cavities, often near
or over water. Sometimes they nest in numbers in the same tree for safety and sometimes
even nest in a small opening in the lower parts of an Osprey's nest of sticks.
Lays three to six light greenish white speckled (however the color varies greatly) eggs
which hatch after about two weeks incubation and young are ready to leave the nest in
about another three weeks.
In the breeding season, small bunches are often seen in fields and on city lawns
scratching for grubs worms, bugs and seeds comically walking their funky head bobbing
walk. Were it not for some of their other deeds they might be considered beneficial. |
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Uncanny thieves, they pillage song bird nests and your
picnic lunch if left unattended. They gather in enormous flocks in the autumn before
migrating south and ravage corn, sunflower and grain crops leaving more unharvestable on
the ground than they consume. The crackley wheezy blackbird voice sounds like a squeaky
barn door hinge and a flock of grackles sound like a thousand wheel barrows. |
| The best thing about the Grackle Nestbox is that you will probably find something besides a
Grackle in it. It is the same nestbox as for Saw-whet Owl,
Pygmy Owl, Lewis Woodpecker,
and Flicker. You may also find kestrels, flycatchers and
various other owls and woodpeckers using this nest box. It has a 7" by 7" floor,
16" inside ceiling, 2 1/2" diameter entrance hole located 14" above the
floor and ventilation openings. Assembled with corrosion resistant screws fit to
pre-drilled countersunk pilot holes. Hinged roof is secured with shutter hooks for
easy access.
Mount almost anywhere about ten to twenty feet high.
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