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Brown-headed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Molothrus ater
Aves
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
9-16 yrs
Size
Small
Diet
Omnivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Flock
Biome
Temperate grassland
Range
North America
Movement
Flight
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Speed
Status
Common

About

This small songbird lives in open fields and pastures across North America. It lays its eggs in the nests of other species to have them raised by foster parents.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg
    A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
  2. 2.
    hatchling
    A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
  3. 3.
    juvenile
    A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
  4. 4.
    adult
    Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Icteridae
Genus
Molothrus
Species
Molothrus ater