Shiny cowbird

It is a bird associated with open woodland and cultivation. The male’s song is a purr and whistle, purr purr purrte-tseeeee. The male’s call is a sharp whistled tsee-tsee, but the female makes a harsh rattle.

The Shiny cowbird is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

The Shiny Cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis, is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds in most of South America apart from the most dense jungles, mountains and deserts (although spreading into these habitats as they are modified by humans), the coldest southernmost regions (e.g. Tierra del Fuego), and on Trinidad and Tobago. It has relatively recently colonised Chile and many Caribbean islands, and has reached the USA, where it is probably breeding in southern Florida. More

Shiny Cowbird Range MapView dynamic map of eBird sightings Field MarksHelp - * MalePopOutZoom In Male * © Herbert Clarke / CLO * FemalePopOutZoom In Female * © Herbert Clarke / CLO Similar Species - * Male More

Shiny Cowbird: Small blackbird with purple sheen on head, back and breast. Eyes are dark. Female is brown overall with faint or no streaks. Juvenile resembles female but has streaked underparts. Range and Habitat Shiny Cowbird: Primarily a South American species, it spread through the West Indies and arrived in southern Florida in 1985. Casual from Texas to North Carolina. Accidental to Oklahoma, Maine, and Maritimes. Voice Text No data available. More

* Shiny Cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis * Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater The non-brood parasitic Bay-winged Cowbird was formerly placed in this genus; it is now Agelaioides badius. These birds feed on insects, including the large numbers that may be stirred up by cattle. In order for the birds to remain mobile and stay with the herd, they have adapted by laying their eggs in other birds' nests. More

Shiny Cowbird male has glossy violet blue-black or purplish-black plumage. Wings and tail are glossy greenish-blue. Head and breast are more glossy and coloured than other parts of body. Conical, pointed bill is blackish. Eyes are dark brown. Legs and feet are black. Female has dull greyish-brown plumage, with paler underparts. We can see a slight bluish gloss on upperparts. She has pale indistinct eyebrow. More

Shiny CowbirdMolothrus bonariensis Order PASSERIFORMES – Family ICTERIDAE Issue No. 399 Authors: Lowther, Peter, and William Post * Articles * Multimedia * References Courtesy Preview This Introductory article that you are viewing is a courtesy preview of the full life history account of this species. The remaining articles (Distribution, Habitat, Behavior, etc. More

Female Shiny Cowbirds can be seen better in this shot. Bucuti Beach Resort. Eagle Beach, Aruba, NA. October-2003. CP-4500 and EagleEye5X lens. CP-995. Bucuti Beach Resort. Eagle Beach, Aruba, NA. October-2003. CP-4500 and EagleEye5X lens. CP-995. More

Shiny CowbirdsThe Shiny Cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis, is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds in most of South America apart from dense jungle and mountains, and on Trinidad and Tobago. It has relatively recently colonised Chile and many Caribbean islands, and has reached the USA, where it is probably breeding in southern Florida. Northern and southernmost populations are partially migratory. It is a bird associated with open woodland and cultivation. More

Shiny Cowbird: Small blackbird with purple sheen on head, back, breast. Eyes are dark. Black bill, legs, feet. Forages on ground, walking with tail cocked above back. Eats insects, caterpillars, seeds and rice. Swift direct flight on rapid wing beats. Travels alone or in small flocks. ● Song: No data available. ● Foraging & Feeding: Shiny Cowbird: Eats insects and seeds; forages on the ground. More

Long-range movements of Shiny Cowbirds in North America support the hypothesis that the cowbird spread from South America unaided by human introductions. = Department of EPO Biology University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado 80309 USA 303 Robinson Street Rockingham, North Carolina 28379 USA EL PATR)N DE INVASION A NORTE AMP, RICA POR PARTE DE MOLOTHRUS BONARIENSIS Sinopsis.-E1 tordo lustroso (Molothrus bonarienszs) apareci6 en los Cayos de la Florida en 1985, y fue informado en tierra firme continental en 1987. More

Extermination of the Shiny Cowbird within the tiny range of the Pale-headed Brush-finch has resulted in a population increase in this critically endangered species. The male Shiny Cowbird is 20.3 cm long, weighs 45 g and is all black with an iridescent purple-blue gloss. The smaller female is 19 cm long and weighs 31 g. Her plumage is dark brown, paler on the underparts. She can be distinguished from the female Brown-headed Cowbird by her longer, finer bill, pale superciilium and stronger face pattern. More

Georgia to try to locate the Shiny Cowbird that he reported seeing earlier that morning on GABO . I arrived at approximately 2:00 pm and met Gene outside his greenhouse. As he was telling me where to try looking, a small flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds landed in a nearby tree. Looking through binoculars, one of them appeared to be all black, including the head. I went back to my truck to get my scope and as I did so the bird moved to a closer tree. More

brood parasite, the shiny cowbird, in the Cauca Valley, Colombia. University of Florida, United States - Florida. * Manolis TD. Ph.D. (1982). HOST RELATIONSHIPS AND REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES OF THE SHINY COWBIRD IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. University of Colorado at Boulder, United States - Colorado. * Mason P. Ph.D. (1980). ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY ASPECTS OF HOST SELECTION IN COWBIRDS. More

SHINY COWBIRD Molothrus bonariensis Decked out in glossy black plumage, the Shiny Cowbird looks like an undertaker, and if an egg-carrying female is in your territory then she might as well be an undertaker, for her presence likely signals the end of your own brood and the beginning of a hard labour sentence to raise her baby - the cowbird is a brood parasite (she lays her eggs in other birds nests, in the same way as the European Cuckoo Cuculus canorus). More

Shiny Cowbird: Eats insects and seeds; forages on the ground. Vocalization Shiny Cowbird: Series of bold musical bubbling warbles, sometimes interspersed with harsher piercing whistled notes and often followed by trills. Call is a harsh series of notes. Similar Species Shiny Cowbird: Brown-headed Cowbird has a glossy brown head; female is plain gray-brown. . More

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This Shiny Cowbird was photographed by Steve Shultz at Pea Island NWR, NC on July 29, 2004. More

The Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) of South America, Panama, and the West Indies is an obligate brood parasite known to have used 176 species of birds as hosts. This study documents wide variability in the quality of real and potential hosts in terms of response to eggs, nestling diet, and nest survivorship. The eggs of the parasite are either spotted or immaculate in eastern Argentina and neighboring parts of Uruguay and Brazil. More

A comparative study of Shiny Cowbird parasitism in two large hosts: Chalk-browed mockingbird and Rufous-bellied thrush Sackmann P.; Reboreda JC. Abstract It is usually accepted that generalist brood parasites should avoid using hosts larger than themselves because host chicks may outcompete parasite chicks for food. We studied the interactions between Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis)and two common hosts that are considerably larger than the parasite,Chalk-browed Mockingbird (Mimus saturninus )and Rufous-bellied Thrush (Turdus rufiventris ). More

XC3153 :: Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis bonariensis) = Recording data Recordist A. Bennett Hennessey Date 25-08-1999 Time 16:18 Country Bolivia Location Buena Vista, Santa Cruz Longitude W63.39'39" Latitude S17. More

America, and the Shiny Cowbird will lay eggs in the nests of hundreds of different species. Some Brown-headed Cowbirds apparently specialize in parasitizing particular host species. Cowbirds scan for nests in which to lay their eggs. They tend to search near their foraging areas—in agricultural areas where there are abundant seeds, urban areas, and grasslands bordering forests. Thus, host species' nests in these areas are parasitized more often than nests in other habitats. More

Picture of Molothrus bonariensis above has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license.
Original source: Arthur Chapman
Author: Arthur Chapman
Permission: Some rights reserved
Order : Passeriformes
Family : Icteridae
Genus : Molothrus
Species : bonariensis
Authority : (Gmelin, 1789)