Differences between Grackle and Stork

Grackle and Stork are two classes of birds that belong to the Icteridae and Ciconiidae families respectively.

Grackles are large Blackbirds. They have purple heads with bronzy brown plumage. Their tails and legs are black and long. The eyes are a bright golden, while the bills are black, long, and slightly curved. The males appear glossier than the females. The birds can make various squeaky and whistling sounds. They are known for their courage. The family of Grackles includes 11 species, of which one is extinct.

Stork is a large wading bird with long legs and long beak. Its beak and legs are usually red in color, while its eyes are grey. The color of its body could be streaks of white, black, and red depending on the geography. The bird’s head and upper neck are usually not covered with feathers. The Stork is almost mute as it has an undeveloped syrinx. The Stork family consists of about 20 species of birds such as Marabou Stork and Adjutant Stork. The family is related to Herons, Ibises, and Flamingos.

Where are Grackle and Stork found?

Grackles are commonly found in meadows, woodlands, agricultural fields, and fringes of forests. They also live in parks, gardens, and lawn areas in cities. Grackles are distributed in parts of North America, northern USA, and Canada. Mexico is home to six species of the bird.

Storks choose to live near marshes, grasslands, meadows, rivers, ponds, and lakes. They are not prevalent across the world. They exist chiefly in Asia, Africa, and Europe. One bird from their species can be found in Australia, while three others occur around Argentina and Florida.

What do Grackle and Stork eat?

Grackles are omnivorous. Their diet chiefly comprises of insects, worms, small fish and reptiles, rodents, frogs, small birds, and eggs. They also eat seeds, berries, and fruits.

Storks are carnivores that mainly eat fish. They also feed on reptiles, insects, amphibians, mice, worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and even small alligators. They generally capture their prey in fields and shallow waters.

Here are a few pointers about the eating patterns between Grackle and Stork

• Both Grackle and Stork eat Fish.
• Both Grackle and Stork eat Frogs.
• Both Grackle and Stork eat Lizards.
• Both Grackle and Stork eat Snakes.
• Grackle do not eat Turtles while Stork eat Turtles.
• Grackle do not eat Squirrels while Stork eat Squirrels.
• Grackle do not eat Gophers while Stork eat Gophers.
• Baby Ducks are consumed by both Grackleand Stork.
• Mice are eaten by both Grackle and Stork.

Size of Grackle and Stork?

When it comes to size, Grackles are 0.99-1.11 feet long. Their wings span 1.18-1.5 feet. The Great-tailed Grackles are one of the largest among the species. They are 1.5 feet long with a wingspan of nearly 1.9 feet.. Storks are huge birds. They are about two to five feet tall with wide wings that measure over 10 feet. The biggest storks in the world are the Shoebill and Marabou that stand five feet tall.

Grackles typically weigh between 2.6 and 5 ounces. The Great-tailed Grackles weigh about 9.3 ounces. while Average weight of Storks is 3-17 pounds depending on the species. Marabou is the largest species and weighs around 17 pounds.

Where do Grackle and Stork nest?

The female Grackle generally builds the nest with some assistance from the male. The nests are huge and usually placed on high coniferous trees. Appearing like large cups, they are made of straw, leaves, twigs, cloth, husk, paper, and similar material. It takes one to six weeks to construct the nests. The eggs are bluish green or grayish white in color with brown spots. The female incubates the eggs for 11-15 days. The young ones fledge 16-20 days after they hatch.

Storks build their nests on trees and shrubs that stand in flooded water. They do so to keep predators away from eating the eggs. Both male and female birds participate in the construction of the nest, besides sharing the responsibility to incubate them for about five weeks, after which the eggs hatch. Baby Storks usually fledge 50-65 days after hatching. An interesting fact about parenting in Storks is that the parents sometimes throw some chicks out of the nests so that they can feed the healthy chicks well and support their survival.

How long do Grackle and Stork live?

Grackles have an average lifespan of 17 years. However, they can live up to 20 years in the wild. Grackles face threat from predators, worm and parasitical infection besides poisoning by farmers.

Storks can live for over 30 years in the wild. They have been known to live up to 35 years in captivity. The longest living species was a White Stork that lived for 39 years in Switzerland.

Are Grackle or Stork migratory birds?

Grackles migrate from northern USA, Canada, and the Great Plains to spend winters in southern USA. They travel before October-November and head back north in February-March.

Storks migrate during winters to warmer regions as they cannot find food in colder weather. They are known to migrate long distances, for instance from Europe to Africa, sub-Saharan region to South Africa or India. They mostly migrate in huge groups.

Do Grackle and Stork fly in flocks?

A flock of Grackles is known as a plague. These birds are highly gregarious. They flock amongst their own and other species. They forage and roost in groups. They form larger groups to stay warm during winters, as well while travelling during migration.

A group of Storks is known as a muster of Storks or a phalanx of Storks. These birds are highly sociable. They stay together and migrate in massive flocks that can even encompass a thousand birds. However, during the breeding season they prefer smaller groups or solitude.

Are Grackle or Stork protected?

Grackles are protected under the Migratory Birds Treaty Act in the USA. They are however excluded from conservation laws in Canada.

Storks are a protected species in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Conservation laws like the African Conservation Action Plan and the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement have come up in response to concerns of the International Union for Conservation of Nature that the Black Storks are not protected satisfactorily.

Are Grackle or Stork endangered?

Grackles are not endangered birds. The Common Grackle species is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as near threatened. The Slender-billed Grackle is a species that became extinct in the beginning of the 20th century.

Storks are extant birds. They had become extinct in the UK about 500 years back but emerged back in the 1970s. They have however become extinct in Japan, Korea, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. The Adjutant Stork is endangered in India and Cambodia, and the Painted Stork is critically endangered in parts of Asia. Very few Storks are also left in Italy due to widespread poaching.

Can Grackle and Stork fly?

Grackles can fly at speeds of 29-39 miles an hour. Their long tails trail behind or are folded in a V shape during flight. The distance they travel during winters is shorter as compared to other birds. It also depends on how far north they live.

Storks fly with their neck and legs stretched out. They flap and soar with their broad wings, using thermal air currents. They can reach altitudes of 1,500 metres above sea level and touch speeds of over 110 miles per hour. During migration, they fly nearly 4,400 miles.

Can Grackle and Stork swim?

Grackles do not have webbed feet but can swim short distances. The younger Grackles paddle well with their wings if they accidentally fall in water.

Storks are not swimmers. They do not prefer deep waters and usually choose shallow waters for their habitat.

Mating patterns among Grackle and Stork

Grackles start mating when they are one to two years old. Breeding happens annually, with the partners raising one to two broods each season. The male birds perform courtship flights, dances, singing, and puffing up of feathers to attract the female. They also engage in tail folding that indicate various signals. The female is followed by many male birds that seek her attention. The female lays one to seven eggs in a single breeding season. She incubates them for about 14 days. Once the eggs hatch, both male and female birds share the responsibility of feeding the young ones.

Storks start breeding when they are about four years old. The male bird is the first one to arrive at the nesting site. He initiates by building a nest or revamping an existing one and ducking on it. The male and female engage in elaborate mating dances. They raise a single brood each year, which consists of two to five eggs.

When is the mating season for Grackle and Stork ?

The mating season for Grackles is from March-July every year. The birds start forming pairs when they return from migratory sites to their territories in the beginning of spring.

The breeding season for Storks is generally the spring. This is usually from the start of February till the end of April.

Do Grackle and Stork mate for life?

Grackles are mostly monogamous. They mate for life and come back to the same nesting territory every year.

Storks are known to be monogamous and faithful to their partners during every breeding season and even for a few years. They may find new partners during migrations or in consecutive breeding seasons. In case of monogamous partners, they generally revisit their nesting site and use the same nests with little restoration.

How do Grackle and Stork sleep?

Grackles roost in groups, usually on large trees. During winters they gather in larger flocks at nights to maintain body temperature.

Storks roost in colonies. They sleep on trees and shrubs surrounded by water. Some storks even sleep standing on one leg in water.

Can Grackle and Stork be eaten?

Grackles are reported to have been eaten by humans. However, modern laws do not permit killing of these birds for meat or any other purpose.

Storks are edible and some people do eat them. However, the bird is protected, and it is illegal to kill them for food.

Can you hunt Grackle or Stork?

Hunting and killing of Grackles is prohibited under the law. Nevertheless, some farmers poison them for destroying their crops and farms. In Canada, killing Grackles is not an offence.

Thousands of White Storks lose their lives every year due to illegal hunting for sport, especially in Lebanon and Italy. The birds are also shot for their meat. All this is despite existence of laws to protect the bird.

Can you feed Grackle or Stork?

Grackles are usually fed with worms, insects, eggs, corn, and millet. Feeding them in public is not allowed in the USA.

Feeding wild animals and birds in public places is not permitted in places like USA, Singapore, and Dubai. Storks are huge birds and need to be fed a lot of food. In captivity, these birds are fed with fish, frogs, small birds, earthworms, lizards, and meat.