Question from Pennsylvania, USA (1 Viewer)

[JCA]

Philadelphia, PA, USA
June 2024
On Birdfeeder Near House

Can anyone help with this bird? It is the first time I have seen it at my feeder. Some characteristics I noticed…
- Entirely black except for light colored eyes
- Shiny black, but no iridescence like a starling
- Very long beak (even longer than the picture seems)
- Long tail

I am thinking brewer’s blackbird, common grackle, or great-tailed grackle???

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[KC Foggin]

I'm leaning towards a Grackle and probably a Long-tailed.

 

[birdmeister]

It is a grackle. This one looks like a Common Grackle, based on tail length and likelihood in Pennsylvania.

 

[TicoTyler]

Great-tailed Grackle and Brewer's Blackbird would both be very uncommon to exceptionally rare for the location. Brewer's has yet to be seen in PA this year and Great-tailed Grackle never as far as I know. It lacks the metallic purple or green of a Common Grackle.

I'm more familiar with Neotropical birds and a bit rusty on PA birds but I would think maybe Rusty Blackbird? Seems to not have much metallic sheen to its feathers like Brewer's.

 

[jmepler]

The bill is too heavy for a blackbird. It looks fine for Common Grackle, iridescence isn't always visible depending on the lighting.

 

[nartreb]

It does look fine for common grackle. None of the other possibilities mentioned in this thread are really worth considering in Pennsylvania, at least not at this time of year.

 

[TicoTyler]

The bill is too heavy for a blackbird. It looks fine for Common Grackle, iridescence isn't always visible depending on the lighting.

Makes sense. The bill did look big to me but I was unsure if the angle was causing that and expected to see at least some iridesence in the feathers even in the shade but they're all species I only see very infrequently.

 

[JCA]

Thanks everyone! I’m learning a lot from reading the replies. Seems like common grackle is the consensus.

This is probably a no, based on the geography, but it does show as touching the south east corner of Pennsylvania. Could it possibly be a boat tailed grackle?

 

[qwerty5]

Thanks everyone! I’m learning a lot from reading the replies. Seems like common grackle is the consensus.

This is probably a no, based on the geography, but it does show as touching the south east corner of Pennsylvania. Could it possibly be a boat tailed grackle?

Boat-tailed are pretty much limited to the coast. (And they have a much longer tail)