Common Grackles in Kansas

Common Grackles live in Kansas all year. Cold, dry winters with strong wind; windbreaks and evergreens are prime roost cover. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward waste grain and acorns.

Continental — humid tallgrass Flint Hills in the east to semi-arid shortgrass prairie in the west.

Across Kansas, grackles typically nest from April–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.

Hot summers above 95°F; western Kansas is dry, so water draws birds from far away.

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

Of the regional native plants we track for Kansas, 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 Kansas's winter: Cold, dry winters with strong wind; windbreaks and evergreens are prime roost cover.

Full diet breakdown for grackles · Best feeder for grackles