Quiscalus lugubris
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The Carib grackle (Quiscalus lugubris) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, the oropendolas, New World orioles, and New World blackbirds. It is found throughout the Lesser Antilles, across northern South America from Colombia to extreme northeastern Brazil, and on several islands off South America's northern coast.
The Carib grackle was formally described in 1838 with its current binomial Quiscalus lugubris. For a time the Carib grackle and the Greater Antillean grackle (Q. niger) were placed in the genus Holoquiscalus; they now are believed to form a superspecies.
The Carib grackle has these eight subspecies: Male Carib grackles average 26 cm (10 in) long and females about 22 cm (8.7 in). Males weigh 66 to 80 g (2.3 to 2.8 oz) and females 49 to 58 g (1.7 to 2.0 oz). Males of all subspecies have a long keel-shaped ("V") tail; females' tails are shorter and flat. Adult males of the nominate subspecies Q. l. lugubris are completely black with a violet gloss on most of the body; it is slightly less strong on the underparts. The gloss is more violet-blue on the wing coverts and greener on the flight feathers. Adult females have dull... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Caroni Swamp | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 3 | Main Ridge Forest Reserve | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 4 | Henri Pittier National Park | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 5 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 8 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 9 | Chingaza National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 10 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 11 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maracaibo | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 2 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 3 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 4 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 6 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Cali | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aviario Nacional de Colombia | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Carib Grackle sighting in Caroni Swamp on a given day, based on 173 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 38th most-seen of the 169 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and December
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Carib Grackle in Caroni Swamp on a given day, against about 20% in February–March and June–November, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Carib Grackle sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Carib Grackle sightings, Caroni Swamp ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Tayrona National Natural Park (Colombia, about 40%).
Same family: Icteridae
The closest relatives of the Carib Grackle that you can see in Caroni Swamp (family Icteridae, New World Blackbirds and Orioles) are Yellow-hooded Blackbird (about 40%), Yellow Oriole (about 30%) and Crested Oropendola (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Carib Grackle is recorded against all the birds logged in Caroni Swamp (173 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.
