Cowbirds
Icterids
Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae.
Cowbird
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
New World bird of the blackbird and oriole (hangnest) family. The male eastern, or common, cowbird is glossy black, about 8 in. (20 cm) long, with a brown head and breast; the female is gray.
Cowbirds belong to the genus Molothrus. They feed on mainly insects, and some species frequent cattle to feed off the insects that are stirred up by their hooves. Cowbirds leave their eggs in the nest of non cowbird species.
Cowbirds
Cowbirds adopted a strategy of laying their eggs in the nests of other birds so they could be free to follow wandering buffalo herds. As a result, they became referred to as nomadic parasites.
Cowbirds
Cowbirds are the smallest of the blackbird family and the only
one with a brown head.
Cowbirds walk when feeding and hold their tails higher than
other blackbirds.
Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis)
The Shiny Cowbird was originally found only in South America where it is widespread in most habitats except forest and mountains.
Shiny cowbird Molothrus bonariensis
Identification Tips:
Length: ? inches
Long, thin, pointed bill
Dark eyes
Frequents open habitats ...
Giant Cowbird Molothrus oryzivora
Described by: Gmelin (1788)
Alternate common name(s): Rice Grackle
Old scientific name(s): Molothrus oryzivorus, Molothrus oryzivorus, Scaphidura oryzivora ...
Giant Cowbird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search ...
Bronzed Cowbird
Last updated 4/26/96 I orginally left this bird out of my list for the UTC because I have never seen one here.
Bronzed Cowbird Photos
A bird of the southwestern U.S., not found in South Dakota. Click on the thumbnail for high-resolution photos.
Bronzed Cowbird 1 ...
The Bronzed Cowbird (Molothrus aeneus) is a common breeding species across parts of south and west Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
Cowbird
The cowbird is a New World BLACKBIRD of the family Icteridae and the genus Molothrus ...
See Cowbirds. Highly gregarious at all seasons; postbreeding fall flocks generally 50-200. Feeds and roosts in enormous flocks with other blackbirds and starlings, esp in winter.
STANFORD. NOTES: ...
The cowbird is recorded as having parasitized the nests of over 250 species, at times removing the eggs of the rightful owner, presumably to give its own egg a better chance of survival.
Shiny Cowbird Behaviour
No observations regarding Shiny Cowbird behavior have been submitted to the database yet.
Interesting Facts about Shiny Cowbirds ...
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)
Prior to European settlement, the brown headed cowbird, once called the "buffalo bird," was common in the open plains.
Brown-Headed Cowbird, Burnaby Lake Regional Park (Piper Spit), Burnaby, British Columbia
Photograph by Alan And Elaine Wilson. Some rights reserved. (view image details) ...
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)
Length: about 7".
Photographed on May 23, 2005, along the refuge's Wildlife Loop (map).
Brown-headed Cowbird
(Molothrus ater)
Status: Summer Resident.
Last recorded on site in 2011
Breeding Status:-
1987 to 1991: Confirmed
1992 to 1996: Confirmed
1997 to 2001: Confirmed
2002 to 2006: Confirmed
2007 to 2011: Confirmed ...
Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, often removing the original eggs to ensure theirs will be incubated.
Cowbirds often lay 1 or 2 eggs in vireo nests, and rates of this brood parasitism range from 6 to 69%. Vireos chase cowbirds, remove or puncture their eggs, build on top of them, or leave the nest.
Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other songbirds. The cowbird often removes a number of the host's eggs and replaces them with an equal number of cowbird eggs.
Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis. Rare in spring and occasional in summer and fall in Gulf Coast region. Found in early successional scrub.
Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus. Accidental.
Brown-headed cowbird parasitism: In the absence of brown-headed cowbird control, parasitism on Kirtland's warbler nests is high and reduces Kirtland's warbler reproductive success.
Brown-headed Cowbird brood parasitism:
The Wilson's Phalarope is an accidental and unsuitable host of the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), an obligate brood parasite (Friedmann 1963, Hatch 1971).
The Brown-headed Cowbird has no population decline, but is considered a conservation problem for many passerine species. Many host species reject Brown-headed Cowbird eggs or abandon nests that are parasitized.
Genus Molothrus (cowbirds)
Species Molothrus aeneus (bronzed cowbird)
Species Molothrus ater (brown-headed cowbird) ...
While this is an easy enough task for humans, it is seemingly more complicated for brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater). (more) ...
6 km from fields where cowbirds feed), exterior forest edge sites (forests adjacent to agricultural fields), and forest sites adjacent to young clear cuts, and found both parasitism and predation to be lower in the interior sites.
One day I was not home and when I looked in the nest, there were 4 eggs, 3 were mockingbird eggs and one was the dreaded brown headed cowbird egg.
NUTTALL was the first naturalist who observed the very curious method in which it contrives to rid itself of the charge of rearing the young of the Cowbird.
Habitat fragmentation also causes egg parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds: When cerulean warblers have nests on the edge of a fragmented area, brown headed cowbirds lay their eggs in warblers' nest (as well as in those of other species).
The wood thrush is also hard-hit by the increased presence of the brown-headed cowbird, which employs an unusual reproductive strategy.
The Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is in the Icterid Family, along with the Blackbirds, Cowbirds, and Orioles. Meadowlarks are common, but shy and wary.
Some birds, like old-world cuckoos and some cowbirds, lay their eggs in other bird's nests. The non-related adult bird takes care of the cuckoo's egg unwittingly.
Owls, hawks, foxes, cats, raccoons, skunks, opossums, and cowbirds; competition for nesting sites from house wrens, catbirds, English sparrows and crows.
Habitat ...
Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis). 'Stumpy' the tailless Shiny at Pea Island NWR, Dare Co., NC 11/7/04.
Bullock's Oriole (Icterus bullockii) - Chatham Co., NC
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) ...
Yellow-headed Vulture, Black Vulture, White-winged Swallow, Black Caracara, Giant Cowbird, Bare-necked Fruit Crow, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, White-necked Heron, Cattle Egret, Snowy Egret, Collared Plover, Lesser Kiskadee, ...
Also, range fires, which used to keep the land open and the shrubs growing low to the ground, are not as frequent today as in the days before people settled Texas. Another problem is that Brown-headed Cowbirds lay their eggs in vireo nests, ...
 See also: Brown-headed Cowbird, Warbler, Spider, Sparrow, Finch
|
