Common Grackles in Pennsylvania

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

Humid continental; cold, snowy winters in the north and mountains, milder in the southeast.

Across Pennsylvania, 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.

Warm summers; bluebirds typically raise two broods.

• 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 Pennsylvania, 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 Pennsylvania's summer: offer water and insect foods; natural food is abundant.

Full diet breakdown for grackles · Best feeder for grackles