Brown-Headed Cowbird

## Description

The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater ) is a small, obligate brood parasitic icterid native to temperate and subtropical North America. It is a permanent resident in the southern parts of its range; northern birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico in winter, returning to their summer habitat around March or April.

## Appearance

The Brown-headed cowbird is a sturdy blackbird with an unusual approach to parenthood. Females do not build nests but use all their energy for producing eggs, sometimes over three dozen per summer. They lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, who become their chicks’ foster parents, with usually at least some of their foster parents’ chicks being victims in the process. Heavy parasitism by this species has pushed some birds to be "endangered" and has affected other populations as well.

## Distribution

Brown-headed cowbirds live throughout the United States, most of Canada, and Mexico. They are permanent residents in the southern parts of their range, while northern birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico in winter. Brown-headed cowbirds prefer habitats with scattered or low trees among grassland vegetation, like brushy thickets and woodland edges, as well as meadows, pastures, fields, orchards, and residential areas.

## Behavior

These birds are social but are usually more solitary during the mornings, which is when mating occurs. Females also seek host nests in the mornings. During the afternoons, birds gather in flocks to forage. They walk on the ground to forage, feeding away from vegetation. In winter, they congregate in very big flocks with European starlings and other icterids. Roosting populations may number up to 38 million individuals. A hierarchy is established in social settings based on how many displacements, flight whistles and song spreads there are in the repertoire of a male. To determine hierarchy, cowbirds participate in "triangle and quadrangle ceremonies", during which males stand in a circle and perform song spreads. After the social status is determined, it is usually maintained by nonverbal means. Singing in flocks is mostly performed by the dominant male and this may be enforced, if inferior males try to sing, by attacking them.

## Diet

Brown-headed cowbirds are herbivores (frugivores and granivores). They eat mostly fruits and seeds. Also in their diet are eggs, spiders, and arthropods, like grasshoppers, leafhoppers, and beetles. Females supplement their diet with mollusk shells during the breeding season.

## Reproduction

Almost all populations of Brown-headed cowbirds have fewer females than males, so the females may be choosy. Males are usually monogamous for the breeding season and attempt to maintain this by guarding their mate from other males. However, females tend to be polygynandrous or promiscuous. When outside her mate's home range, a female is no longer guarded, so may copulate with a different male. Males not in a pair-bond sometimes mate with females that are not guarded, often while the female's mate is away foraging. Copulations amongst non-mates are more frequent in those populations where the females have more extensive home ranges than the males. The breeding season will vary with the region, but eggs are laid in May and June. One female lays up to 40 eggs each year in the nests of other species. They find nests by quietly watching for signs of nest building, or they flutter through the vegetation, aiming to flush the nest builders out. The incubation time is only 10 to 12 days. After 8 to 13 days the chicks leave the nest and are fully independent from their hosts at around 25 to 29 days old.

## Population

### Population threats

The Brown-headed cowbird is widespread and does not face any major threats at present; however, it has some predators, such as hawks, owls, raccoons, squirrels, and snakes. Other reasons for its population decline are unknown.

### Population number

According to the What Bird resource, the total population size of the Brown-headed cowbird is around 56 million individual birds. The All About Birds resource records the species’ total breeding population size as 120 million individuals. Overall, currently, Brown-headed cowbirds are classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, but their numbers today are decreasing.

## Fun Facts

Although named a "cowbird," this species does not look like a cow but got its name because it followed herds of bison on North America’s Great Plains, eating insects kicked up by the cattle.

This bird is North America’s commonest “brood parasite.” Making no nest herself, instead, the female lays her eggs in nests of other species, these birds then raise the young cowbirds.

Brown-headed cowbirds will lay eggs in nests belonging to over 220 bird species.

Before laying eggs, the female selects a nest which has eggs smaller than hers, and quickly lays a single egg. She doesn’t evict the eggs from the nest, except when she sometimes eats them.

During displays, a male picks a “singing tree” from where he will sing the typical cowbird song that begins with two liquid whistles, ending in a rapid glissando: “bub-blow-com-seee”. The song often goes with a display of “bowing” or “tipping-over” towards a female or another male, a rival. The “flight whistle” is two or three clear and high-pitched notes.

## References

https://animalia.bio/brown-headed-cowbird