Common Grackles in Alberta

Common Grackles are summer residents in Alberta, arriving shortly before nesting begins in May and leaving after the young are independent. Through the season they feed on beetles, grasshoppers and earthworms.

Continental — prairie in the southeast, aspen parkland in the center, boreal forest in the north and the Rockies in the west.

Across Alberta, grackles typically nest from May–June. Nest site: bulky cup in dense conifers, often in loose colonies. Females lay 4–6 eggs, incubate for 13–14 days, and young leave the nest after 12–15 days.

Warm, sunny summers with long days.

• Common Grackles don't use nest boxes. Keep dense native shrubs and trees such as paper birch, rabbitbrush, willow (bebb) for nest sites.
• Delay heavy pruning of shrubs until after June.

Of the regional native plants we track for Alberta, these 8 provide food or cover grackles use:

Grackles arrive in flocks and can dominate open feeders; weight-activated and caged feeders help keep smaller birds fed.

• Best foods: Cracked corn, Sunflower.
• In Alberta's summer: offer water and insect foods; natural food is abundant.

Full diet breakdown for grackles · Best feeder for grackles