"Everyones Favorite Bird" (Not)

Part of the blackbird family, the Brown-headed Cowbird is a little smaller than other birds in its family. The male Brown-headed Cowbird has a glossy black body and a brown head while the female is plain brown. Once confined to open grasslands, the Cowbird's range has grown as people settled North America.

 

The Brown-headed Cowbird uses a different strategy than most to raise its young. The female doesn't build a nest but rather lays her eggs in a nest belonging to another species. Studies have shown that Cowbirds tend to choose a nest with smaller eggs than their own. Cowbirds have been observed to lay eggs in nests of 220 different host species! The Yellow Warbler, Red-winged Blackbird and Red-eyed Vireo are common hosts.

Since the female doesn't build a nest of her own, she spends all of her energy laying eggs. Sometimes three dozen eggs are laid a season! Cowbird eggs hatch faster than other species eggs, giving Cowbird chicks a head start in getting food from the host parents. The chicks develop faster than other species and sometimes throw the other eggs out of the nest or smother the other chicks.

 

I found this male along with 50 or 60 more, both male and female, in my backyard, In Polk County, Florida.

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