Blackbirds, Grackles, Orioles

Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater

Family Icteridae (Blackbirds, Grackles, Orioles)

Size: 7.5"

Season: Summer

Habitat: Woodland edges, pastures with livestock, grassy fields

The brown-headed cowbird is a stocky, short-winged, short-tailed blackbird with a short, conical bill. The male is glossy black overall with a chocolate-brown head but is sometimes much lighter in western populations. The female is light brown overall with faint streaking on the underparts and a pale throat. Cowbirds often feed in flocks with other blackbirds, picking seeds and insects from the ground, and their voice is a number of gurgling, squeaking phrases. They practice brood parasitism, whereby they lay their eggs in the nests of other passerine species that then raise their young. Hence, their presence often reduces the populations of other songbirds. The dark adult male is illustrated.