Common Grackles in Florida

Common Grackles live in Florida all year. Winter is the busy feeder season as northern migrants — goldfinches, wrens and others — arrive from October. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward waste grain and acorns.

Humid subtropical in the north to tropical in the Keys; a wet summer and a dry winter season.

Across Florida, grackles typically nest from March–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.

Heat, humidity and summer storms: boxes need drainage holes, ventilation and shade, and nectar spoils fast.

• Common Grackles don't use nest boxes. Keep dense native shrubs and trees such as southern live oak, white oak, red maple for nest sites.
• Delay heavy pruning of shrubs until after June.

Of the regional native plants we track for Florida, these 7 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 Florida's winter: Winter is the busy feeder season as northern migrants — goldfinches, wrens and others — arrive from October.

Full diet breakdown for grackles · Best feeder for grackles