The slender-billed grackle (''Quiscalus palustris'') was a species of

grackle Grackles is the common name of any of 11 passerine birds (10 extant and one extinct) native to North and South America. They belong to various genera in the icterid family. In all the species with this name, adult males have black or mostly blac ...

in the

Icteridae Icterids () or New World blackbirds make up a family, the Icteridae (), of small to medium-sized, often colorful, New World passerine birds. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red. The ...

(New World blackbirds)

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of birds. The species was closely related to the western clade of the

great-tailed grackle The great-tailed grackle or Mexican grackle (''Quiscalus mexicanus'') is a medium-sized, highly social passerine bird native to North and South America. A member of the family Icteridae, it is one of 10 extant species of grackle and is closely ...

, from which it diverged quite recently, around 2,000 years ago. The slender-billed grackle was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to central

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, especially in the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico wa ...

and the

Toluca Valley The Toluca Valley is a valley in central Mexico, just west of the Valley of Mexico (Mexico City), the old name was Matlatzinco. The valley runs north–south for about , surrounded by mountains, the most imposing of which is the Nevado de Toluca Vo ...

. Early observations recorded by

Franciscan friar , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

Bernardino de Sahagún Bernardino de Sahagún, OFM (; – 5 February 1590) was a Franciscan friar, missionary priest and pioneering ethnographer who participated in the Catholic evangelization of colonial New Spain (now Mexico). Born in Sahagún, Spain, in 1499, he ...

in the 16th-century manuscript '' General History of the Things of New Spain'' indicate that the species was found in cultivated areas and towns. Later records indicated that it might be a marsh specialist. The species became

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

around the turn of the 20th century.

Habitat

The slender-billed grackle was originally known from the Rio Lerma area in Mexico. It has not been recorded since 1910. Several records of the slender-billed grackle are known from three different habitats, such as wetlands, cultivated plots, and human settlements. Slender-billed grackles inhabited marshes and borders of the lakes. Emergent aquatic vegetation was commonly used for nesting material by the slender-billed grackles.

Nesting

The slender–billed grackle usually nested in marshes and aquatic vegetation; however, as the population in Mexico increased, the species was able to adapt to the changes in the environment and learned to nest in towns and cultivated plots. The slender-billed grackle hatched its eggs in reeds.

Interaction

Intraspecies interaction

The diet of the slender-billed grackle consisted of animals, plants, and fruits. It mainly ate worms, flies, and maize. The slender-billed grackle also tended to group and form flocks.

Human interaction

When the initial European settlers came to central Mexico, they observed that the Aztecs targeted the slender-billed grackle; the reason for this is partially unclear. Some speculate that they were targeted because they were seen as pests that ate their crops, while others believe it was to use their feathers for headdresses. They chose to use their black tail feathers rather than their bright green feathers for reasons still unknown. Also during Izcalli, the Aztecs' month in which they sacrificed a variety of animals to their gods, they chose to use this bird for sacrifice to their fire god. The reason for this is not yet known to historians, but many believe it was because they were abundant and considered a nuisance.

Extinction

The slender-billed grackle is believed to have become extinct around the turn of the 20th century, after disappearing from the Valley of Mexico. The only known habitats for the slender-billed grackle were the marshes and wetlands of Mexico. Reports of grackles nesting in urban areas also exist, but this is believed to have been a response to the loss of habitat due to the conversion of marshes to farmland. Slender-billed grackles had also been observed nesting in cultivated farmland near towns, but much of this land was cultivated marshland. Slender-billed grackles had also been hunted extensively by local populations for use in rituals. The grackles were collected in areas near the towns, as they were gathered the day before rituals were to be held.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1178213 Quiscalus Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds described in 1827 Extinct birds of North America Endemic birds of Mexico Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Birds of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt