Whether you know them from their perches on power lines in H-E-B parking lots, or from Austinites’ longstanding love-hate relationship with them, grackles are part of life in Austin. We thought a refresher on the birds was prudent.
Here’s what to know about Austin’s official mascot:
🐦 Grackles Are Identifiable Through Their Coloring.
You may not realize it, but grackles are not just black. Some have a bronzy body with a blue-black head, and others have a purple and green gloss to their feathers, according to the National Audubon Society. Grackles have long tails with a crease down the middle, and whitish-yellow eyes. The birds can have a wingspan of 14 to 18 inches and measure between 11 to 13.4 inches long, CornellLab’s All About Birds reports.
🍟 A Grackle Diet Consists of More Than Human Food Scraps.
Grackles forage for their food while walking around, wading in shallow water, or in trees and shrubs. They feed on insects like grasshoppers and caterpillars, sometimes stealing food from robins or other birds. As omnivores, the birds have been known to eat the following: Spiders, millipedes, earthworms, crayfish, minnows, frogs, lizards, eggs and young of other birds, and small rodents.
Grackles opt for berries, seeds, waste grain, and acorns during winter months, according to the National Audubon Society.
🅿️ Grackles Hang Out in Parking Lots for Many Reasons.
Even though it might seem like it, grackles are not loitering in H-E-B parking lots just because they can. Parking lots typically have trees that grackles roost in at night, and plenty of open space so they can keep an eye out for predators, ornithologists say. The possibility of food scraps can also be part of why they show up. Plus, parking lots are usually big enough for large groups of grackles, which is great, because the birds like to sleep in big groups.
📣 Sound off in our email: Do you love or hate grackles?
