Bird

Common Grackle

Quiscalus quiscula

Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 24 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 24

Male Common Grackle, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Mike Brady, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0. iNaturalist photo 259736067. Source-provided large resize; no crop or image edits.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 24
Habitat models: Year-round

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Virginia 24

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

1 of 24

Year-roundAtlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Interdunal WetlandDune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

Year-roundDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other)Named place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundAppalachian Hemlock-Hardwood ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Hemlock forest / rocky mountain stream, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Mountains of North and South Carolina; exact site not identified, a neighboring state.Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundNorthern hardwood forest in winter. Shown: Baxter Creek Trail near Mount Sterling, Haywood County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Frozen northern hardwood forest, Baxter Creek Trail, Brian Stansberry, undated. CC BY 3.0. Source record.

Year-roundCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsWet pine flatwoods with a shrub layer. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Year-roundCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsSandy pine savanna. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and BaygallDense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Cove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish MarshBrackish marsh at a woodland edge. Shown: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC0 1.0. Source record.

Year-roundRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Spruce-fir forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouth-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

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

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest; Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest; Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Floodplain and bottomland forests

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

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Freshwater tidal marshes

Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

Year-round

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

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

Year-roundDeveloped, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

Year-roundDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation

Other habitats in its models (94)

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

Developed, Low Intensity Year-round.
Developed, Medium Intensity Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Year-round.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Year-round.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round.
South Florida Pine Rockland Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Year-round.
Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Year-round.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Year-round.
Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Year-round.
South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Year-round.
Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Year-round.
Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Year-round.
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Year-round.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog 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 Dwarf Cypress Savanna Year-round.
South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Year-round.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Year-round.
South Florida Cypress Dome Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Year-round.
Cumberland Riverscour Year-round.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
South Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.