Brown-headed Cowbird

Brown-headed Cowbird
Eastmont Hills, Oakland, California, USA
June 2014
Member of the Blackbird Family
§A Corral of Cowbirds§

~true bird fact~ Brown-headed Cowbird's are the USA's most prolific and common brood parasites. A female Cowbird does not build her own nest and instead spends her energy laying eggs in the nests of as many other birds as possible, laying as many as 3 dozen in a season. These eggs (and chicks) are then cared for by the other species. Unless, of course, the mother bird recognizes the eggs as not her own, in which case she will try to puncture them or throw them out of the nest. Some birds are too small to do this, and instead build a new nest over the cowbird eggs. Sometimes the mother cowbird comes back to check on her eggs, and if they have been disturbed engage in ransacking and harassment of the nest.

Cowbird chicks are pretty rude as well, hatching and growing earlier than average in order to force out the other bird's eggs or chicks from the nest. Can a bird be considered evil? We will be examining this issue more closely in our next few blogs.

Treats others as objects to an end. Has a hard time empathizing
Has a lot of self pity
High level of business savvy
Good at manning a grill


And yes, in case you were wondering, they are named cowbirds because they hang around cows (and other herd animals). This is because the movement of the herd kicks up a lot of food, mostly plant seeds and insects who get stirred up.