Male Boat-tailed Grackles are covered in the most beautiful iridescent plumage I’ve ever seen. When the sunlight hits them at just the right angle, their feathers turn from glossy black to an array of purple, blue and green colors.
Female Boat-tails are lovely too! Dressed in buff brown plumage they are quite striking.
I spotted several of them while birding along Sunset Beach NC earlier this past week. Boat-tailed Grackles also have long, full “v” shaped tails which crease into a wedge shape while in flight, earning them their moniker “boat-tailed”. I really enjoyed watching him hunting for a six legged meal in the trees. The way this one moved methodically along the branches when foraging was neat to watch!

Boat tailed Grackles are a permanent resident of both North and South Carolina boasting a wide range that stretches from the coastline of New York, down into Florida and into east Texas.They are found almost always near sources of water such as wetlands and coastal marshes, waterfowl impoundments, lakes, rivers, both the Atlantic and Gulf beaches, ponds and mudflats.These sharp looking members of the blackbird family are omnivorous with a diet of expected coastal fare that consists of mussels, shrimp, frogs, aquatic insects, snails, crayfish, and even crabs. When grabbing a meal away from the water, they will feed on grasshoppers, caterpillars, and the eggs of other birds.

During the winter months, they will supplement their diet with different kinds of seeds and grain to make up for the protein loss that may occur when their favorite prey becomes scarce in cold weather. This is why you’re likely to see more of them at your feeders in the wintertime if you live on the east coast.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5