H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

Welcome my friends! Today’s post is going to change a bit, this one will be dedicated to only one species of birds that are currently visiting my backyard with more frequency. They love to travel in groups or in large flocks. The name is Brown-headed Cowbird, birds that are common and very abundant. Let’s take a look at more information from © Wikipedia:

The Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a small obligate brood parasitic icterid of temperate to subtropical North America. They are permanent residents in the southern parts of their range; northern birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico in winter, returning to their summer habitat around March or April.

The brown-headed cowbird is typical for an icterid in general shape, but is distinguished by a finch-like head and beak and is smaller than most icterids. The adult male is iridescent black in color with a brown head. The adult female is slightly smaller and is dull grey with a pale throat and very fine streaking on the underparts.The species lives in open or semi-open country and often travels in flocks, sometimes mixed with red-winged blackbirds (particularly in spring) and bobolinks (particularly in fall), as well as common grackles or European starlings. These birds forage on the ground, often following grazing animals such as horses and cows to catch insects stirred up by the larger animals. They mainly eat seeds and insects. Brown-headed cowbirds do not raise their own young, instead laying their eggs in the nests of other bird species. Because of this, cowbirds are not exposed to species-typical visual and auditory information like other birds. Despite this, cowbirds are able to develop species-typical singing, social, and breeding behaviors.

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© HJ Ruiz – Avian101