Bird name:

Shiny Cowbird

Molothrus bonariensis

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Blackbirds and Orioles (Icteridae)

Code 4

SHCO

Code 6

MOLBON

ITIS

179117

Breeding Location:

Grassland with scattered trees

Breeding Type:

Promiscuous

Breeding Population:

Rare to uncommon

Egg Color:

White to blue or pink with brown and gray marks

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

11 - 12

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Uses nests of other species.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

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.

Breeding and Nesting

Shiny Cowbird: Nest parasite that lays one white to light blue or pink egg per nest in nests of other species. Incubation ranges from 11 to 12 days and is carried out by the host species.

Foraging and Feeding

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.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America