Quiscalus major
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The boat-tailed grackle (Quiscalus major) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found as a permanent resident on the coasts of the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. The boat-tailed grackle is found in coastal saltwater marshes and across the Florida peninsula. In salt marsh areas, least bitterns will often associate with and make mixed colonies with grackles. Boat-tailed grackles have established significant populations in several United States Gulf Coast cities and towns, using human activity as protection against predation and scavenging through human trash. Urban boat-tailed grackle populations can be found foraging in trash bins, parking lots, and outdoor restaurant patios.
The nest is a well-concealed cup in trees and shrubs near water; the average clutch size is just over three eggs. Male boat-tailed grackles compete to defend and mate with a harem of closely nesting females, although DNA evidence shows that females often successfully mate with other males while away from their colony, with only about a quarter of the young being fathered by the dominant male.
The male boat-tailed grackle is 37–43 cm (15–17 in) long... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brevard Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Boat-tailed Grackle sighting in Big Cypress National Preserve on a given day, based on 1,300 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 27th most-seen of the 199 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–June and October–November
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Boat-tailed Grackle in Big Cypress National Preserve on a given day, against about 30% in August and December–February, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Boat-tailed Grackle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Boat-tailed Grackle sightings, Big Cypress National Preserve ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (United States, about 70%) and Everglades National Park (United States, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Boat-tailed Grackle is recorded against all the birds logged in Big Cypress National Preserve (1,300 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
