Subject: Great-tailed Grackle invasion- summary (long)
Date: Aug 2 12:49:45 1995
From: Alvaro Jaramillo - alvaro at quake.net


Dear Chatter, Tweets and Rec.birders,

Ok, I have summarized the information that was given to me
regarding the range of the Great-tailed and Boat-tailed Grackles.
For the most part, all of the literature I found was out of date
compared to the info sent to me via e-mail, the expansion
continues!

Alaska and Canada:

As of yet, there are no records from Alaska, which is not
surprising, however it has come close in B.C. There have been
several records from Canada which I will detail below, the
provinces where the Great-tailed has occurred are British Columbia,
Ontario (what has not been seen in Ontario!) and Nova Scotia; the
Boat-tailed G. has been recorded in Nova Scotia (I think).

A summary, from west to east:

In B.C. There have been two records, one in spring and one in
winter, both were females. The May record occurred in the Queen
Charlotte Islands, which is truly remarkable. It was copiously
photographed and identified as being one of the small southwestern
races (_nelsoni_). The second record, the one that wintered in
Vernon. It was also photographed, and judging from the photos, this
may be the more widespread central form, _monsoni_, but with a big
question mark besides the subspecific identification. It is
possible that there are other, less well known reports from the
province.
The state of Washington only has one record, a male at Union
Gap, Yakima Co., May 25-26, 1987. Oregon is a different story, the
Great-tailed was confirmed as a breeding species last year for the
first time, at Malheur NWA. The first record from Malheur, and
probably in the state was in May of 1980! They have been annual in
the state since 1992, also the year that produced the northernmost
state record in Jefferson Co (this is one county south of the
Washington border). I don't have any information as to the
subspecific identity of these birds, but it would be nice to know.
In California, the Great-tailed Grackle is well established in
the south east and is spreading. It was first recorded in the state
from the Salton Sea in 1964 and the first breeding record quickly
followed in 1969. The spread has been mainly to the north, but also
to the west albeit at a slower pace. The first coastal nesting
occurred in 1988 in San Diego Co. In San Luis Obispo Co. (between
Santa Barbara and Monterey Cos.) the first record was in 1982. A
male in 1988 was seen at several spots before it settled down at
Oceano County Park. The number of males increased to three at that
spot, starting in 1992 and a female was discovered there in 1993.
It nested that year, but no young were seen. This year two females
were nesting, at least one successfully nested there for
California's northernmost coastal nesting. The sequence of events
at this site may be illustrative as to how colonization occurs at
a site, todays vagrant is tommorrow's nesting species!
They have bred as far north as Fresno Co. and Mono Co. in
Northern California, both colonies are recent. In other areas, the
Great-tailed Grackle is still a rarity, there are several records
from the Bay and Sacramento areas. The first record for the
northeast of the state was a flock of six males in Lassen Co., in
May 1993.
The birds in the south are surely of the small, pale form
_nelsoni_ which also occurs in sw. Arizona. The subspecies of the
rest of the sites is unknown, but I assume that most, if not all
are _nelsoni_ However, the northenmost birds, as well as the Oregon
birds may have invaded from the east and may thus be the larger,
darker _monsoni_. However, this is all speculation as of yet. There
is a need to figure out the new distribution of the three US races
In the Rocky Mountain and Great Basin states, spread is happening
quickly, but unfortunately there is less coverage in some of these
areas as compared to the Pacific Coast states and provinces. I
don't have any records from Idaho, but they certainly must have
occurred there, any records anyone? How about Montana and Wyoming,
have they been see there? The first Utah record was in 1979, I
don't know how common they are there now. Colorado has had them
breeding for the last 20 years or so, most commonly in the
southeast of the state, but they have been found throughout. The
form _monsoni_ is the only one in Colorado. In Nevada, they first
arrived in 1973, and are now north to the Ruby Lakes, where they
may breed as small numbers are seen here. Further south in Arizona,
they are common. The race _monsoni_ is most widespread, but
_nelsoni_ may be seen in the southwest and elsewhere in winter. In
New Mexico _monsoni_ occurs largely in the southern half of the
state, apparently they are rare in the north, or perhaps
overlooked.
Now lets move on over to the Great Plains. I don't have any
records for North Dakota, are there any? In South Dakota, they have
been seen on several occasions but have not bred. They are common
in south central and south eastern Nebraska and breed. They are
largely absent from the west and north, the subspecies is suspected
to be the eastern _prosopidicola_. They first arrived in the state
in 1977. In Kansas, where they first arrived in 1964, they are
considered locally common, mainly in the west of the state. In
Oklahoma they can be found commonly throughout the state, the first
was in 1953. Throughout Texas they are common, and are even
considered a pest in many areas.
Further east the records become more sparse, but breeding is
happening in some states. Minnesota has had two reports only one of
which was accepted (April 4, 1993). The previous record from June
1982 was left as Great-tailed/Boat-tailed sp? but was surely the
former. In Iowa they arrived in 1983 and were nesting that same
year, in the sw. corner of the state. The numbers are building and
spreading to the north and east. Missiouri had its first documented
breeding record in 1979 and other colonies were found starting in
1986. Breeding has only been reported from the western extreme of
the state. All of the specimens from Missouri have been
_prosodipicola_. The first one arrived in 1976. Arkansas has had
breeding records since 1976, starting in the southwest of the
state. They are not common, but can be reliably found in the west.
As far as I know there are no Michigan or Wisconsin reports.
Illinois has had one _prosopidicola_ female in Oct. 1974, are there
more recent records? Indiana has two records, both within the last
five years from Sullivan Co., in the west. Ontario has had two
records, the first one from Atikokan which is north and to the east
of Duluth, Minnesota. It was a female, which looked like a
_prosopidicola_. The next record occurred well to the south near
Long Point, on Lake Erie, also a female. The easternmost record was
of a female at a feeder in Nova Scotia from Nov. 1983 to Feb. 1984.
There are at least three more records of large grackles from Nova
Scotia, but their identity is uncertain. Godfrey (Birds of Canada)
lists two as Boat-tailed Grackles, his book predates the third
record. Meanwhile, Tufts (Birds of NOva Scotia) leaves these two
records as unidentified but lists a third from 1982 as a good
female Great-tailed. As far as I know there are no reports from
other Atantic states/provinces or any from the southeast.
Finally, lets deal with Hawaii, yes Hawaii! There are records
from the island state, starting with a female in O'ahu in the 80's
which may still be there as of 1993. A male started to be seen on
the same island in 1986 with up to two males observed. The origin
of these grackles is unknown, but are thought to be escapes perhaps
from the local zoo!

Boat-tailed Grackle.

The northern edge of the range of this species formerly was New
Jersey, but they have now reached Long Island, NY. However, some
previously uncolonized NJ sites are still being filled in by the
birds. Stray records of this species tend to be associated with
Hurricanes. Hurricane Gloria ,Oct. 1985, brought Connecticut and
Rhode Island its first records some of which remained to the spring
of the next year. Massachusets had the first observation of this
species in March of 1985. Connecticut has had other records more
recently, in the spring of 1989 and 1990. They may have occurred in
Nova Scotia, but there is some disagreement as to the
identification of these birds. Pennsylvania has had a Great-
tailed/Boat-tailed report from 1957. It was originally identified
as a Boat-tailed, but was subsequently rejected by the state
committee. There is a verified upstate New York record of a Boat-
tailed.
Now to summarize the summary. Basically, Great-tailed Grackles
are coming to a place near you! The pattern in some of the states
has been for them to begin breeding quite quickly after the first
records. They have advanced at a rate of about one state northward
per decade, so they should be breeding in Canada in the next 10 to
20 years if this continues. Most of the spread has been northward,
with very little to the east, however they may turn up anywhere.
Great-tails are largely resident, but some migrate in the winter.
However, all states that have had breeding records, except perhaps
Oregon has wintering populations. Arrivals far from the breeding
grounds tend to occur in the fall/winter and spring, rarely the
summer. As Bill Principe pointed out, the spread of this species is
rather peculiar in that three different subspecies are involved,
each one spreading north on three fronts; _nelsoni_ in the west,
_monsoni_ in the southwest, and Great Basin; _prosopidicola_ in the
Great Plains and east. Perhaps _monsoni_ has invaded more quickly
to the north and its possible that at least one of the B.C. records
are of this form, and maybe even the Oregon birds but this is a
guess.
Boat-tailed Grackles are spreading slowly to the north and new
records tend to be associated with storms and hurricanes. Next time
there is a hurricane stop looking up for frigatebirds and look for
grackles! Records inland are exceedingly rare, a big Grackle almost
anywhere in the midwest or east away from the coast is more likely
a Great-tailed based on the pattern of strays.

If anyone has records from Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, the
prairie provinces, Wisconsin and Michigan or any eastern location I did not
mention
please let me know. As well, would anyone that has more info on the
Nova Scotia situation please clear that up for me.

I would like to thank all of those of you which sent me
information. In somewhat geographical order, thank you: Declan
Troy, Paul Millen, Jack Bowling, Dennis Paulson, Tom Love, Jon
Anderson, Skip Russell, Steve Hampton, Bill Hill, Bill Principe,
Charles Collins, Joe Morlan, Paul Debenedictis, Brad Stovall, Tom
Edell, John Henly, William Otto, Leanna Shaberly, Alan Versaw,
Wally Collins, David Keller, Dan Tallman, Thomas Labedz, Steve
Feldstein, Jim Rising, Max Thompson, Duanne Carmony, D.H. Grey,
Roger Malone, Carol Schumacher, Bruce Baer, Jim Fuller, Troy
Gordon, H. Raney, Jim Hengeveld, Frank Haas, and Laurie Larson. I
hope I didn't miss anyone.

Good Birding, I will post updates if I receive any more info.
Alvaro Jaramillo
Half Moon Bay, CA

alvaro at quake.net