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Dereila Nature Inn Home > Bird's Nest Lounge > Walking in the Wild > The Brown-headed Cowbird

#49 - The Brown-headed Cowbird

The Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater, is a small blackbird
found in fields and woodland areas across most of North America.

Males have a characteristic light brown, glossy head which is in contrast somewhat to the rest of its black body. The female has a light brown head and darker brown body somewhat resembling a large House Sparrow. Being 7.5 in/19 cm long and having a wingspan of 12 in/30 cm, it is bigger than the common House Sparrow, but smaller than the American Robin.


The juvenile is streaky on the underside. When huge herds of bison roamed the plains, the Brown-headed Cowbird followed them, feeding on seeds and insects that the bison disturbed. As a result of this nomadic lifestyle, the cowbird was unable to build and tend a nest, so it resorted to 'nest parastism' wherby its eggs are laid in the nests of other birds and the host bird raised the young.
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Today the bison are gone and the Black-headed Cowbird is associated with herds of cattle.
Its range has also has expanded and grown to include urban areas and forests.

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