Bird

Boat-tailed Grackle

Quiscalus major

Lives in Mississippi all year and nests here. Found in 6 of 82 counties, across 13 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: 6 of 82 counties
Habitats: 13

Male Boat-tailed Grackle, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 545461576. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: 6 of 82 counties
Habitats: 13
Habitat models: Year-round

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Mississippi 13

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 13

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

Year-roundUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune); Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation; East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland; Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal Wetland

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

Year-roundSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

Year-round

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Year-round

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Year-roundMississippi River Riparian Forest; Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest; Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

Year-roundSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

Year-roundOpen Water (Fresh)

Salt and brackish marshes

Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.

Year-roundMississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh

Sounds, bays and tidal flats

Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.

Year-roundOpen Water (Brackish/Salt)

Swamps

Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.

Year-roundSouthern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Swamp Systems; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome; Mississippi River Bottomland Depression

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

Year-roundOnly within 1,000 m of water.East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Year-roundOnly within 1,000 m of water.Developed, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay

Other habitats in its models (55)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Mississippi.

Developed, Low Intensity Year-round, only within 1,000 m of water.
Developed, Medium Intensity Year-round, only within 1,000 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Sandy Beach Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Year-round.
Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Year-round.
Unconsolidated Shore Year-round.
Upper Texas Coast Beach Year-round.
Louisiana Beach Year-round.
Southeast Florida Beach Year-round.
South Florida Shell Hash Beach Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Year-round.
Southwest Florida Beach Year-round.
Texas Coastal Bend Beach Year-round.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round.
Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Year-round, only within 1,000 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest Year-round, only within 1,000 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest Year-round, only within 1,000 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Year-round, only within 1,000 m of water.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round, only within 1,000 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Year-round, only within 1,000 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Year-round.
Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Year-round.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dune and Swale Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Year-round, only within 1,000 m of water.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Year-round.
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Year-round.
South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Year-round.
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Year-round.
Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Year-round.
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Year-round.
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Year-round.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Year-round.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Year-round.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Year-round.
South Florida Cypress Dome Year-round.
Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Year-round.
South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Year-round.
Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Year-round, only within 1,000 m of water.