The Carib grackle (''Quiscalus lugubris'') is a
New World tropical
blackbird, a resident breeder in the
Lesser Antilles and northern
South America east of the
Andes, from
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
east to
Venezuela and northeastern
Brazil. There are eight subspecies, of which the most widespread is the nominate subspecies (''Q. l. lugubris'') of
Trinidad and the South American mainland. This subspecies was introduced to
Tobago in 1905 and is now common there.
Description
The adult male Carib
grackle is long with a long wedge-shaped tail, although the latter is not so long as other grackles. Its plumage is entirely black with a violet
iridescence
Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfl ...
, its eyes are yellow, and it has a strong dark bill. The adult female is long, with a shorter tail and brown plumage, darker on the upperparts. Young males are shorter tailed than adult males and have some brown in the plumage. Young females are very similar to the adult females.
The seven island subspecies differ from the nominate one in size, plumage shade (especially in the browns of the females), and vocalisations.
Breeding
The breeding habitat is open areas, including cultivation and human habitation. This is a colonial breeder, with several deep, lined cup nests often being built in one tree. Two to four whitish eggs are laid. Incubation takes 12 days, with a further 14 days to fledging. This species is sometimes
parasitised
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
by the
shiny cowbird (''Molothrus bonariensis''), but is quite successful at rejecting the eggs of that species.
Behaviour
The Carib grackle is a highly gregarious species, foraging on the ground for
insects, other
invertebrates, small
fish, small
frogs,
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
s,
or scraps. It is also known to catch small
bats in the air.
It can become very tame and bold, entering restaurants to seek food, normally feeding on leftovers. It will form groups to attack potential predators, such as
dogs,
mongooses or
humans, and at night it roosts colonially.
Call
The Carib grackle's song is a mixture of harsh and more musical ringing notes, with a bell-like ' and a rapid ' being typical. The calls vary in dialect between islands and the bird usually fluffs up its feathers when calling.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the Carib grackle
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1588623
Carib grackle
Birds of the Lesser Antilles
Birds of Colombia
Birds of Venezuela
Birds of the Guianas
Carib grackle