The Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) is a medium-sized, gregarious passerine

Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...

 bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 native to North

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. A member of the Icterid

Icterid

The Icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colorful passerine birds restricted to the New World. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange or red. The family is extremely varied in size, shape, behavior and coloration...

ae family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

, it is of the ten extant species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of grackle

Grackle

Grackle can refer to any of eleven black passerine birds native to North and South America. All are members of the Icterid family but belong to multiple genera.* Genus Quiscalus** Boat-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus major...

 and is closely related to the Red-bellied Grackle

Red-bellied Grackle

The Red-bellied Grackle is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. Its genus, Hypopyrrhus, is monotypic. It is endemic to Colombia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . Downloaded on...

 and the Velvet-fronted Grackle

Velvet-fronted Grackle

The Velvet-fronted Grackle is a species of bird in the Icteridae family. It is monotypic within the genus Lampropsar. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical swamps and heavily degraded former forest.-...

. It is sometimes referred to as a "blackbird", though it is not a member of the New World blackbird

New World blackbird

The New World blackbirds consist of 26 species of icterid birds that share the name blackbird but do not correspond with a formal taxon...

s, nor is it related to any of the five species of Old World

Old World

The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....

 blackbirds (all of which are species of the Turdus

True thrush

The true thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Turdus of the thrush family Turdidae.The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Several species have also colonised some oceanic islands, and...

 genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

).