Molothrus ater

Description

This is a small blackbird with a short, sparrow-like bill. Females are gray with a lighter colored gray throat. Males are black with a brown head.

Voice

When in flight, they have a call of wee-titi. Their song is a bubbly and creaky glug-glug-glee.

Habitat

Farms, fields, roadsides, wood edges, and barnyards are all places that you can find brown-headed cowbirds.

Diet

They eat insects, spiders, grass seeds, and grain.

Range

Brown-headed cowbirds can be found in the entire United States and parts of Mexico and Canada.

Other Useful Information

Brown-headed cowbirds are the only brood parasitic bird in North America. The females do not build any nests. Instead, they lay their eggs in other bird species’ nests. Some females will lay their eggs in any species’ nest, but others will specialize in certain species of birds. In the 1800s, brown-headed cowbirds were found as far east as the Great Plains, but through development, brown-headed cowbirds have continued to move eastward. Eastern birds did not evolve with brown-headed cowbirds, so most of them have not learned that their nest is being parasitized, where as more western birds do recognize this.

Similar Species

Brewer’s blackbird, rusty blackbird, starlings.