Common Grackle
Common Grackle has collapsed: down 81% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Common Grackle
A long-tailed, iridescent blackbird of farmland, towns and wetlands, the Common Grackle gathers in large, noisy flocks outside the breeding season.
- Size
- 11–13.5 in long, about 4.1 oz (28–34 cm, 115 g)
- Habitat
- A broad range of open and wooded habitats, often near people.
- Diet
- An omnivore — grain, seeds, insects and small animals.
- Range
- Recorded on 3,103 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 44 states, most concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains.
- Family
- Icteridae · Generalists
- Conservation
- Declining
Notable Common Grackle Trends
Common Grackle has collapsed in surveyed states: down 81% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
Common Grackle Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Common Grackle is projected to fall about 73% by 2029 — from 14 in 2024 to a central estimate of 3.9 (95% range 0.00–14). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±41%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7.6 | 0.00 | 17 |
| 2026 | 6.7 | 0.00 | 16 |
| 2027 | 5.8 | 0.00 | 15 |
| 2028 | 4.8 | 0.00 | 14 |
| 2029 | 3.9 | 0.00 | 14 |
Where the Common Grackle Is Detected
BBS routes recording Common Grackle, sized by most recent count.
Common Grackle Population Trend by State
| Alabama | -85% | 1968 | 109 |
| Arkansas | -77% | 1969 | 56 |
| Colorado | +176% | 1970 | 113 |
| Connecticut | -71% | 1968 | 20 |
| Delaware | -54% | 1968 | 17 |
| Florida | -53% | 1968 | 123 |
| Georgia | -79% | 1968 | 110 |
| Idaho | +7% | 1993 | 11 |
| Illinois | -75% | 1968 | 105 |
| Indiana | -62% | 1968 | 69 |
| Iowa | -42% | 1969 | 39 |
| Kansas | -64% | 1969 | 67 |
| Kentucky | -82% | 1968 | 63 |
| Louisiana | -84% | 1969 | 100 |
| Maine | -67% | 1968 | 76 |
| Maryland | -77% | 1968 | 76 |
| Massachusetts | -75% | 1968 | 32 |
| Michigan | -76% | 1968 | 107 |
| Minnesota | -56% | 1969 | 92 |
| Mississippi | -91% | 1968 | 68 |
| Missouri | -83% | 1969 | 93 |
| Montana | +178% | 1970 | 75 |
| Nebraska | -30% | 1969 | 75 |
| Nevada | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| New Hampshire | -52% | 1968 | 26 |
| New Jersey | -82% | 1968 | 44 |
| New Mexico | -73% | 1972 | 26 |
| New York | -66% | 1968 | 129 |
| North Carolina | -69% | 1968 | 105 |
| North Dakota | +477% | 1969 | 51 |
| Ohio | -61% | 1968 | 89 |
| Oklahoma | +40% | 1969 | 68 |
| Pennsylvania | -75% | 1968 | 136 |
| Rhode Island | -28% | 1968 | 7 |
| South Carolina | -86% | 1968 | 51 |
| South Dakota | -52% | 1969 | 63 |
| Tennessee | -90% | 1968 | 54 |
| Texas | +81% | 1969 | 174 |
| Utah | -88% | 1993 | 11 |
| Vermont | -63% | 1968 | 26 |
| Virginia | -93% | 1968 | 88 |
| West Virginia | -91% | 1968 | 61 |
| Wisconsin | -59% | 1968 | 98 |
| Wyoming | -45% | 1970 | 99 |
Common Grackle Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Great Basin | -19% | 1993 | 13 |
| Northern Rockies | -66% | 1970 | 74 |
| Prairie Potholes | -16% | 1969 | 124 |
| Boreal Hardwood Transition | -19% | 1968 | 126 |
| Lower Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Plain | -65% | 1968 | 86 |
| Atlantic Northern Forest | -59% | 1968 | 154 |
| Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau | -65% | 1971 | 80 |
| Badlands and Prairies | +95% | 1969 | 133 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | +191% | 1969 | 122 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | -23% | 1969 | 129 |
| Edwards Plateau | +198% | 1979 | 13 |
| Oaks and Prairies | +91% | 1969 | 73 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | -71% | 1968 | 278 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | -61% | 1968 | 161 |
| Central Hardwoods | -87% | 1968 | 160 |
| West Gulf Coastal Plain / Ouachitas | -94% | 1969 | 103 |
| Mississippi Alluvial Valley | -85% | 1968 | 72 |
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | -80% | 1968 | 337 |
| Appalachian Mountains | -82% | 1968 | 394 |
| Piedmont | -86% | 1968 | 172 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | -74% | 1968 | 164 |
| Peninsular Florida | -58% | 1968 | 80 |
| Tamaulipan Brushlands | -84% | 1977 | 12 |
| Gulf Coastal Prairie | -30% | 1969 | 40 |
Common Grackle Conservation Status
Declining
Long-term surveys document a steep, sustained decline for this species, a recognized conservation concern. Our route-weighted index shows it down about 81% since 1968.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.