Field Guide/Birds/Molothrus ater

2006-04-24T09:21:32Z

62.153.77.34: +de

{{Taxobox
| color = pink
| name = Brown-headed Cowbird
| image = BrownheadedCowbird23.jpg
| image_caption = Male
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[bird|Aves]]
| ordo = [[Passeriformes]]
| familia = [[Icteridae]]
| genus = '''''[[Cowbird|Molothrus]]'''''
| species = '''''M. ater'''''
| binomial = ''Molothrus ater''
| binomial_authority = ([[Pieter Boddaert|Boddaert]], [[1783]])
}}

The '''Brown-headed Cowbird''' (''Molothrus ater'') is a small [[icterid]].

Adults have a short [[finch]]-like bill and dark eyes. The adult male is mainly [[Iridescence|iridescent]] black with a brown head. The adult female is grey with a pale throat and fine streaking on the underparts.

Breeding in open or semi-open country across most of [[North America]], this [[bird]] is a [[brood parasite]]: it lays its [[Egg (biology)|egg]]s in the nests of other small [[passerine]]s (perching birds), particularly those that build cup-like nests, such as the [[Yellow Warbler]]. The young cowbird is fed by the host parents at the expense of their own young.

Brown-headed Cowbirds are permanent residents in the southern parts of their range; northern birds [[bird migration|migrate]] to the southern [[United States]] and [[Mexico]]. They often travel in flocks, sometimes mixed with [[Red-winged Blackbird]]s or [[European Starling]]s.

These birds forage on the ground, often following grazing animals such as [[horse]]s and [[cattle|cow]]s to catch [[insect]]s stirred up by the larger animals. They mainly eat [[seed]]s and insects.

At one time, the Brown-headed Cowbird followed the [[American Bison|bison]] herds across the [[prairie]]s. Their [[parasite|parasitic]] nesting behaviour complimented this [[nomad|nomadic]] lifestyle. Their numbers expanded with the clearing of forested areas and the introduction of new grazing animals by settlers across North America. Brown-headed Cowbirds are now commonly seen at suburban birdfeeders.

Brown-headed Cowbird females can lay 36 eggs in a season. Over 140 different species of birds are known to have raised young cowbirds. Host parents may sometimes notice the cowbird egg. Different species react in different ways. [[Gray Catbird]]s destroy the egg by pecking it. Some species may simply build a new layer over the bottom of the original nest. Brown-headed cowbird nestlings are sometimes expelled from the nest.

[[Category:Brood parasites]]
[[Category:Icteridae]]

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Field Guide/Birds/Molothrus ater