Brown-headed Cowbird
Molothrus ater
Least Concern (IUCN Red List)Troupials and Allies
Photo: Mohan Nannapaneni · Pexels · Pexels License (licence)
Call and song
Recording 1 · call, song
Recording 2
Recording 3
About the Brown-headed Cowbird
Stout bill. Short tail and stocky body. Males are glossy black with chocolate brown head. Females are gray-brown overall, without bold streaks, but slightly paler throat. Juveniles streaked brown. Found in open woods, farmland, and stockyards. Forages by walking on the ground. Often in flocks with other blackbirds in winter. Visits feeders. Unpopular due to their parasitic habit of laying eggs in nests of other birds.
Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made
Where it has been recorded
Recorded in 13 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.
