Brown - headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater

Description

Males greenish black with brown head. Females grayish brown. Bills are black.

Voice: high-pitched; female chatters.

Range: Breeds throughout all of the United States, except Florida, and into Canada

Cowbirds do not raise their young. They steal an egg from another bird's nest and replace it with one of their own. The cowbird egg usually hatches first and the young cowbird is usually so much larger that the other nestlings are crowded out. They are a pest which is quickly growing in destructiveness at the expense of songbirds.

Cowbird Courtship