Crossword clues for grackle
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Grackle \Grac"kle\, n. [Cf. L. graculus jackdaw.] (Zo["o]l.)
One of several American blackbirds, of the family Icterid[ae]; as, the rusty grackle ( Scolecophagus Carolinus); the boat-tailed grackle (see Boat-tail); the purple grackle ( Quiscalus quiscula, or Q. versicolor). See Crow blackbird, under Crow.
An Asiatic bird of the genus Gracula. See Myna.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1772, gracule, from genus name Gracula, Modern Latin fem. from Latin graculus "jackdaw, European crow," perhaps of imitative origin. The anglicized form of the word is attested from 1782.
Wiktionary
n. 1 Any of several American blackbirds of the genus ''Quiscalus'' having iridescent plumage 2 Any of several Asian myna birds of the genus ''Gracula''
WordNet
n. glossy black Asiatic starling often taught to mimic speech [syn: hill myna, Indian grackle, Gracula religiosa]
long-tailed American blackbird having iridescent black plumage [syn: crow blackbird]
Wikipedia
Grackle is the common name of any of eleven passerine birds 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 black plumage.
- Genus Quiscalus
- Boat-tailed grackle, Quiscalus major
- Common grackle, Quiscalus quiscula
- Great-tailed grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus
- Slender-billed grackle, Quiscalus palustris – extinct (1910)
- Nicaraguan grackle, Quiscalus nicaraguensis
- Greater Antillean grackle, Quiscalus niger
- Carib grackle, Quiscalus lugubris
- Genus Hypopyrrhus
- Red-bellied grackle, Hypopyrrhus pyrohypogaster
- Genus Lampropsar
- Velvet-fronted grackle, Lampropsar tanagrinus
- Genus Macroagelaius
- Golden-tufted grackle, Macroagelaius imthurni
- Colombian mountain grackle, Macroagelaius subalaris
Sometimes members of the starling family have historically been called grackles. Tristram's starling is sometimes known as "Tristram's grackle", and the hill mynas in the genus Gracula have also been called grackles.
Category:Icteridae
Usage examples of "grackle".
On each sat a single grackle, dark feathers iridescent in the late sunlight.
That required more than the thin trace of grackle blood running through her veins.
Behind him crouched a Grackle whose frayed and dusty plumage had lost nearly all its iridescence.
So do these three little grackles who must make their mark here: Papancho, come home soon!
I also include the photograph Julio Pou took of our three grackles, and one of a lady you might not recognize with her tired face and weary look.
Just the thought of leaving my little grackles for several months was enough to start the coughing.
A dry wind had come up from the south and in the eucalyptus trees the grackles teetered and screamed.
He did not stare the way the others did, like grackles turning their mad yellow eyes toward a falling sky, but like a member of the audience who knows when the curtain will fall.
But then neighborhood pets begin to come up missing, unidentifiable animals are found as road kill, hordes of cicadas and grackles invade his yard.
The mynah bird, which he seemed fond of, he had given the name of Grackle - from its designation of Gracula religiosa, he explained.
As the waters ran away, leaving their spume behind to melt into the sand, a few of the plovers, sanderlings and funny beat-tailed grackles gave chase.
But for all the whir and flash of brilliant birdlife above the placid water--for all the screams of the fish hawks and the noise of crows and grackle in the cypress--for all the presence of another camper among the trees to the west, the days were quiet and undisturbed.
A dry wind had come up from the south and in the eucalyptus trees the grackles teetered and screamed.
He did not stare the way the others did, like grackles turning their mad yellow eyes toward a falling sky, but like a member of the audience who knows when the curtain will fall.
In the most daily, friendly fashion, Anne and snowy egrets and boat-tailed grackles and pelicans and blue kingfishers belonged together.