Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae. They are of New World origin, and are obligate brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species.
The genus was introduced by English naturalist William Swainson in 1832 with the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) as the type species.[2][3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek mōlos, meaning "struggle" or "battle", with thrōskō, meaning "to sire" or "to impregnate".[4]
^"Icteridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
^Swainson, William John; Richardson, J. (1831). Fauna boreali-americana, or, The zoology of the northern parts of British America. Vol. Part 2. The Birds. London: J. Murray. p. 277. The title page bears the year 1831 but the volume did not appear until 1832.
^Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1968). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 195.
^Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae. They are of New World origin, and are obligate brood parasites, laying their...
The shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds in most of South America except for dense forests...
hypothesis, eggs of the shiny cowbird parasitizing the house wren and the chalk-browed mockingbird and the brown-headed cowbird parasitizing the house wren...
The bronzed cowbird (Molothrus aeneus), once known as the red-eyed cowbird, is a small icterid. They breed from the U.S. states of California, Arizona...
The screaming cowbird (Molothrus rufoaxillaris) is an obligate brood parasite belonging to the family Icteridae and is found in South America. It is also...
The giant cowbird (Molothrus oryzivorus) is a large passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds from southern Mexico south to northern...
World blackbirds, New World orioles, the bobolink, meadowlarks, grackles, cowbirds, oropendolas, and caciques. Despite the similar names, the first groups...
and Paraguay. They were formerly in included in genus Molothrus with cowbirds. "Icteridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved...
brown-headed cowbird causes range expansion at the expense of other birds such as warblers, sparrows, and vireos. The efforts required for raising the cowbird chick...
The pale baywing (Agelaioides fringillarius), formerly known as the pale cowbird, is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is currently placed in...
nestlings, particularly for nests later in the season. The brown-headed cowbird, a brood parasite, will lay its eggs in house finch nests, although the...
breeding season, but can fall victim to brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds, among other species. Some populations have been affected by mercury contamination...
will prey on their eggs. Cowbirds rarely parasitize mourning dove nests. Mourning doves reject slightly under a third of cowbird eggs in such nests, and...
brood parasites, particularly brown-headed cowbirds. One study found that 9% of nests had brown-headed cowbird eggs in them. It likely evades parasitism...
vigilant, watching other birds for reactions to predators. Brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) lay their eggs in robin nests (see brood parasite), but...
eastern phoebe is occasionally host to the nest-parasitic brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). Eastern phoebes are highly adaptable to urban environments...
cowbird. The cowbirds' eggs closely resemble song sparrows' eggs, although the cowbirds' eggs are slightly larger. Song sparrows recognize cowbirds as...
less exposed to predators and brood parasitism by the brown-headed cowbird. The cowbird lays its eggs in mostly any other passerine's nest and the young...
their own. Brood parasites include birds in different families such as cowbirds, whydahs, cuckoos, and black-headed ducks. These do not build nests of...
1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03290.x. hdl:10261/43767. Davies, N. (2000). Cuckoos, Cowbirds and other Cheats. London: T. & A. D. Poyser. ISBN 0-85661-135-2. Sorenson...
branch. Sometimes their nest is filled with the egg of a brown-headed cowbird which is a parasite bird that lays its eggs in other birds nests for that...
Global Information
