Common Grackles in New Jersey

Common Grackles live in New Jersey all year. Moderate winters; Cape May and the shore hold many half-hardy birds. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward waste grain and acorns.

Humid continental to subtropical, from the Highlands in the north to the Pine Barrens and Cape May.

Across New Jersey, 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, humid summers; Cape May is a world-class migration funnel.

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

Of the regional native plants we track for New Jersey, 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 New Jersey's winter: Moderate winters; Cape May and the shore hold many half-hardy birds.

Full diet breakdown for grackles · Best feeder for grackles