5. Common grackle: May appear dark and scary from afar, but a closer look reveals their beauty Don't let the common grackle's mean-looking yellow eyes distract you from its beauty.

Grackle comes from the Latin, graculus, a term applied to jackdaws or choughs, Old World birds closely related to crows. With its dark color, large "crow-like" beak, and tendency to behave like a crow ...

Grackles are easy to recognize. They are big, black birds, and they appear very long, because they have conspicuous tails. In good light, they appear iridescent. Illustration / Mike Jacobs ByMike ...