If you don’t already know it, the common grackle is that foot-long blackbird seen nearly everywhere — from golf courses and crop fields to shorelines and town parks — usually in large numbers.

SOUTH NEWFANE Last week, I was a music critic, reviewing the musical abilities of our locally common blackbirds: red-winged blackbird, brown-headed cowbird, and common grackle. My review was not ...

It's a basic bird in Europe, known there as the common blackbird, but the pair said they're only aware of one other recorded sighting in North America. They quickly decided to hit the road.