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Blackbirds

Brown-headed Cowbird

Braunkopf-Kuhstärling

Molothrus ater

Blackbirds13 photosFirst seen: 5 July 2026
Brown-headed Cowbird

The Brown-headed Cowbird is a stocky blackbird with a short, thick bill. Adult males have a brown head and glossy dark body, while females are plain grey-brown. It feeds mainly on seeds and insects in open country and around grazing animals. The female lays its eggs in the nests of other songbirds instead of building its own nest. More than one hundred species have been recorded raising cowbird young.

ID tip: The short conical bill and brown head on the male rule out every other blackbird; drab females are best told by that same stubby, sparrow-like bill on a blackbird-shaped body.
First seen: 5 July 2026 · Union Bay Natural Area · 13 photos in the collection.

Places in my records

Locations where this species is supported by a dated first record, an unambiguous single-place outing or a reviewed assignment.

Family
Blackbirds (Icteridae)
Length
16–22 cm
Wingspan
31–38 cm
Regional status
Summer visitor (Pacific Northwest, USA)
Conservation
Least Concern LCIUCN Red List · retrieved 27 August 2026
Habitat
Woodland edges, fields, feeders, suburbs
Diet
Seeds, grain, insects
Built from verified occurrence records, not drawn by hand. Core range = the countries holding 99% of all records; the rest are scattered or vagrant records. Record counts track where people watch birds as much as where the birds are, so the map shows presence, not abundance. Data: GBIF (CC BY 4.0). Basemap: Natural Earth.

Selected photographs

Brown-headed CowbirdBrown-headed CowbirdBrown-headed CowbirdBrown-headed CowbirdBrown-headed CowbirdBrown-headed CowbirdBrown-headed CowbirdBrown-headed Cowbird
Complete photo archiveAll 13 published photographs of this species, including the selected main gallery.Open all 13 photos in the archive →
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