WhenToBird

Quiscalus major · Icteridae

When Do Boat-tailed Grackles Arrive in New York?

Adult female Boat-tailed Grackle
Photo: Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 via iNaturalist

Boat-tailed Grackles arrive in New York in mid March, peak in early June (1.9% of checklists), and most are gone by late August.

When to look

First arrivalsMar 15-21mid March
Common byMar 15-21mid March
PeakJun 1-7early June
Most gone byAug 22-31late August

Best: early June. First arrivals mid March; most are gone by late August. Peak: on about 1.9% of New York checklists.

  1. Janrare
  2. Febrare
  3. Marcommon
  4. Aprcommon
  5. Maypeak season
  6. Junpeak season
  7. Julpeak season
  8. Augcommon
  9. Sepuncommon
  10. Octuncommon
  11. Novrare
  12. Decrare

Darker months: more checklists report it. Outlined: peak month.

0%1%2%3%Jan 1-7: 0.1% of 66410 checklistsJan 8-14: 0.1% of 49310 checklistsJan 15-21: 0.1% of 49919 checklistsJan 22-31: 0.1% of 62513 checklistsFeb 1-7: 0.1% of 43526 checklistsFeb 8-14: 0.1% of 49753 checklistsFeb 15-21: 0.1% of 65147 checklistsFeb 22-28: 0.3% of 50173 checklistsMar 1-7: 0.3% of 50325 checklistsMar 8-14: 0.5% of 55371 checklistsMar 15-21: 0.6% of 56293 checklistsMar 22-31: 0.9% of 82677 checklistsApr 1-7: 1.1% of 65295 checklistsApr 8-14: 1.4% of 73080 checklistsApr 15-21: 1.4% of 73857 checklistsApr 22-30: 1.1% of 106093 checklistsMay 1-7: 0.9% of 102772 checklistsMay 8-14: 1.2% of 110051 checklistsMay 15-21: 1.4% of 94797 checklistsMay 22-31: 1.9% of 101272 checklistsJun 1-7: 2.0% of 59471 checklistsJun 8-14: 1.9% of 55497 checklistsJun 15-21: 1.7% of 51761 checklistsJun 22-30: 1.6% of 59219 checklistsJul 1-7: 1.5% of 48226 checklistsJul 8-14: 1.6% of 42315 checklistsJul 15-21: 1.9% of 40637 checklistsJul 22-31: 1.5% of 57183 checklistsAug 1-7: 1.4% of 40461 checklistsAug 8-14: 1.2% of 39880 checklistsAug 15-21: 1.2% of 41146 checklistsAug 22-31: 0.7% of 63381 checklistsSep 1-7: 0.6% of 48640 checklistsSep 8-14: 0.4% of 47882 checklistsSep 15-21: 0.4% of 49063 checklistsSep 22-30: 0.5% of 57906 checklistsOct 1-7: 0.5% of 48447 checklistsOct 8-14: 0.3% of 51901 checklistsOct 15-21: 0.3% of 46717 checklistsOct 22-31: 0.2% of 61992 checklistsNov 1-7: 0.2% of 44593 checklistsNov 8-14: 0.1% of 42566 checklistsNov 15-21: 0.1% of 39675 checklistsNov 22-30: 0.1% of 51197 checklistsDec 1-7: 0.1% of 36567 checklistsDec 8-14: 0.1% of 37254 checklistsDec 15-21: 0.1% of 43754 checklistsDec 22-31: 0.1% of 62470 checklistsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Share of complete checklists reporting it, by week (4 per month). Grey bars: fewer than 10 checklists, not counted.

Frequency is the share of complete checklists in New York that listed the bird, 2016–2025. It is not a head count, and it follows where and when people go birding. How to read it.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
today
Second week of November

Each county is shaded by the share of complete checklists there that listed the bird, blended with the weeks either side. Darker is more often. It follows where people watch birds, not how many birds there are. How to read it.

Embed this map on your site

Where in New York

Best counties

Share of checklists at the peak
  1. Queens CountyBest the second week of August · 1254 checklists that week, 76,201 in all19%
  2. Nassau CountyBest early June · 1930 checklists that week, 95,019 in all18%
  3. Kings CountyBest the second week of June · 1484 checklists that week, 134,897 in all13%
  4. Richmond CountyBest mid May · 1368 checklists that week, 55,926 in all9.9%
  5. Suffolk CountyBest mid April · 4736 checklists that week, 208,865 in all6.5%
  6. Bronx CountyBest the second week of April · 582 checklists that week, 24,489 in all0.9%

Best spots

Share of checklists at the peak
  1. Gateway National Recreation Area (Oakwood Beach)Richmond County, best late April · 28 checklists that week, 1,092 in all99%
  2. Point BreezeKings County, best early May · 102 checklists that week, 5,118 in all89%
  3. Great Kills ParkRichmond County, best late June · 27 checklists that week, 994 in all84%
  4. Captree State ParkSuffolk County, best late September · 31 checklists that week, 1,784 in all81%
  5. Gateway National Recreation Area (Bay Terrace)Richmond County, best early June · 24 checklists that week, 1,470 in all76%
  6. Captree State Park (Fire Island Inlet)Suffolk County, best late November · 23 checklists that week, 702 in all74%

Busy spots report more of everything; compare the checklist counts before you drive anywhere.

Best time of day

In New York, the Boat-tailed Grackle is most often listed on checklists started between 6 and 8 am (1.0% of those checklists).

0%0.5%1%1.5%12 am: too few checklists (1146) to judge1 am: too few checklists (1055) to judge2 am: too few checklists (1121) to judge3 am: too few checklists (1353) to judge4 am: too few checklists (4785) to judge5 am: too few checklists (32052) to judge6 am: 1.5% of 124869 checklists7 am: 0.8% of 298506 checklists8 am: 0.8% of 337334 checklists9 am: 1.0% of 307787 checklists10 am: 0.9% of 270801 checklists11 am: 0.9% of 233238 checklists12 pm: 0.7% of 213830 checklists1 pm: 0.7% of 193321 checklists2 pm: 0.7% of 180741 checklists3 pm: 0.6% of 170348 checklists4 pm: 0.6% of 147224 checklists5 pm: 0.6% of 111962 checklists6 pm: 0.7% of 78261 checklists7 pm: too few checklists (44425) to judge8 pm: too few checklists (15648) to judge9 pm: too few checklists (4795) to judge10 pm: too few checklists (2454) to judge11 pm: too few checklists (1378) to judge12a3a6a9a12p3p6p9p
Share of checklists started in each local hour that reported it. It reflects when people go birding as well as when birds are active. Grey hours have too few checklists (under 2% of the state’s, or under 200) to judge.
Week-by-week table
MonthDays 1-78-1415-2122-end
January0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%
February0.1%0.1%0.1%0.3%
March0.3%0.5%0.6%0.9%
April1.1%1.4%1.4%1.1%
May0.9%1.2%1.4%1.9%
June2.0%1.9%1.7%1.6%
July1.5%1.6%1.9%1.5%
August1.4%1.2%1.2%0.7%
September0.6%0.4%0.4%0.5%
October0.5%0.3%0.3%0.2%
November0.2%0.1%0.1%0.1%
December0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%

Neighboring states

  • Connecticut: arrives the second week of March, 1 week earlier than New York
  • New Jersey: arrives the second week of December, 13 weeks earlier than New York
  • Delaware: arrives mid September, 24 weeks earlier than New York
  • Maryland: arrives early March, 2 weeks earlier than New York

Common questions

When do Boat-tailed Grackles arrive in New York?
Boat-tailed Grackles arrive in New York in mid March, peak in early June (1.9% of checklists), and most are gone by late August.
When do Boat-tailed Grackles leave New York?
Most Boat-tailed Grackles have left New York by late August, when reports fall below half their usual rate.
When is the best time to see a Boat-tailed Grackle in New York?
The Boat-tailed Grackle is reported most often in early June, on about 1.9% of New York checklists.
Where in New York are Boat-tailed Grackles seen most often?
By county, Queens County, Nassau County, and Kings County have the highest peak reporting rates for the Boat-tailed Grackle (counties with at least 200 checklists).