Short-tailed Grackle (1 Viewer)

[icansprint]

Last spring (2003) I saw a Short-tailed Grackle (Topsham, Maine USA). This fall I saw two at the same time and place. I was not able to get both of them in the photo at the same time but I did manage to get a photo of one. I could not find any information in print on a short-tailed variety and was hoping someone here will have more info.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[Charles Harper]

Where'd you get the name from, then? This info is mostly new to me (I haven't been home for a long time), but looking through Sibley, we see mention of subspecies or varietals of Common, Boat-tailed and Great-tailed Grackles. The only common one that far north is Common, which does not mention intraspecific variation in tail length. From the multicoloration of back, coverts and secondaries, I would suggest the 'Coastal' race of Common Grackle. Although Sibley also mentions relatively shorter-tailed Boat-tails and Great-tails, I doubt they would approach the shortness of your bird, who looks like a cat got all his tailfeathers-- I am guessing they drop all the tailfeathers at once during moult? Great-tails are of course a western species anyway.

 

[logos]

The complete loss of a tail in birds is normally the result of an accident as Charles suggests but Common Grackles like your bird (and other grackle and New World Blackbird species) are unusual in that they sometimes moult all of their tail feathers simultaneously. Most birds (and this includes many Common Grackles too) replace their tail feathers gradually so that there is no significant loss of function during moult. As grackles moult their tails in late summer/ fall a missing or part grown tail at this time is most likely the result of moult but a missing or part grown tail in spring is presumably more likely due to accidental loss.

Sibley (N. Am Bird Guide) mentions the unusual moult strategy of grackles and New world Blackbirds on page 515.

Spud

 

[icansprint]

Charles,

Thank you for your reply.

I got the name from the "An Audubon Handbook Eastern Birds". I believe this to be the Common Grackle that is very common in our area. I’ve seen dozens of them (with long tails) all at the same time. The tail of a Common Grackle is long. The other Grackles that you mentioned have tails that are extremely long and “shorter” being relative. As far as a “cat” solution I think it’s unlikely that I would be able to document two at the same time.

 

[Larry Lade]

The bird appears to be a Common Grackle.

The "no tail"/"short tail" is also common in the Red-winged Blackbird as they go through their moult cycle in the fall of the year.

Larry

 

[icansprint]

Spud,

Thank you for the information and the book reference. I will try to find a copy of the book you mentioned. Your assessment makes sense as I only saw one bird in the spring and it did show some possible damage in the rear. I will keep an eye open next spring to follow up on this. I’m surprised that my Audubon book didn’t mention this, although it is just a handbook.

 

[Charles Harper]

Didn't read that box, Spud-- thought it was about skuas or drongos or somethin'....

 

[icansprint]

Larry,

Thank you.

 

[nrobbyn]

Hi - I arrived on this site as I have just taken up bird-watching in Montreal and now in Nova Scotia. For several days now a small flock of blackbirds but with short tails have landed on my field. They go into the long grass and virtually disappear. I thought they were Rusty Blackbirds but they do not match the photo and Peterson says in his entry on Rusty Blackbirds that they "usually suggest a short-tailed Grackle". But he gives no entry on short-tailed Grackles.

Anyhow this is spring, mid June 2012 and my Peterson is from 1980 - so maybe there is something new regarding short-tailed Grackles....?

Nancy

 

[njlarsen]

Hi - I arrived on this site as I have just taken up bird-watching in Montreal and now in Nova Scotia. For several days now a small flock of blackbirds but with short tails have landed on my field. They go into the long grass and virtually disappear. I thought they were Rusty Blackbirds but they do not match the photo and Peterson says in his entry on Rusty Blackbirds that they "usually suggest a short-tailed Grackle". But he gives no entry on short-tailed Grackles.

Anyhow this is spring, mid June 2012 and my Peterson is from 1980 - so maybe there is something new regarding short-tailed Grackles....?

Nancy

Nancy,
welcome to Birdforum! :t:

The way I would read the statement from Peterson would be to understand that Rusty Blackbird is similar to a Common Grackle but has a proportionately shorter tail than that one usually would have.

Niels

 

[ceasar]

I've recently seen Grackles in the trees in my backyard feeding what appear to be newly fledged Grackles with shorter tails, they seem to be able to fly short distances and can hop about the branches. They don't have a white Iris yet.

In Sibley's big book he shows an illustration of 2 moulting adults; one complete and one partial with a long central tail. The dates for this moulting are Jul-Sep.

Bob

 

[fugl]

It is common in Nevada in the late summer to see Great-tailed Grackles (the only species we have here) with short or missing or partial tails. As pointed out earlier in this 9-year old (wow!) thread, grackles, unlike most other birds, tend to molt their tail feathers all at once.