Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) [XC345872]
by Martin St-Michel from River Lakes Conservation Area near Viera, Brevard Co, Florida, United States (call)
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) [XC345281]
by Paul Marvin from Viera Wetlands, Florida, United States (call)
Subspecies
According to DNA data, this species is ancestral to other members of genus. In the past, subspecies versicolor and stonei were sometimes treated as two separate species. Further, these two subspecies intergrade in eastern USA from Connecticut south to Louisiana and intermediate populations described as a distinct subspecies, ridgwayi, but such treatment of this variable form unwarranted.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
versicolor Vieillot, 1819 - Breeds in southern Canada from eastern British Columbia east to southern Quebec and Newfoundland, southern in USA (east of Rocky Mts and west of Appalachians) to central Texas and western Mississippi. Winters south to southern Texas and east to South Carolina.
stonei Chapman, 1935 - Eastern USA from New Jersey and Pennsylvania southern (mostly along Appalachians) to inland Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) - South-eastern USA on Atlantic and Gulf coasts from southern North Carolina south to Louisiana and southern Florida (including Florida Keys).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet