Cowbird

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Cowbird
Brown headed cowbird female in JBWR (25487).jpg
Female brown-headed cowbird
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Icteridae
Genus: Molothrus
Swainson, 1832
Type species
Fringilla pecoris [1]
Gmelin, JF, 1789
Species

Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae. They are of New World origin, but some species not native to North America are invasive there, and are obligate brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species.

Contents

The genus was introduced by English naturalist William Swainson in 1832 with the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) as the type species. [2] [3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek mōlos, meaning "struggle" or "battle", with thrōskō, meaning "to sire" or "to impregnate". [4] The English name "cowbird", first recorded in 1839, refers to this species often being seen near cattle. [5]

Species

The genus contains six species: [6]

Genus Molothrus Swainson, 1832 – six species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Screaming cowbird

Screaming Cowbird (Molothrus rufoaxillaris).jpg

Molothrus rufoaxillaris
Cassin, 1866
Northeast and central Argentina, southeast Bolivia, central Brazil and throughout Paraguay and Uruguay
Molothrus rufoaxillaris map.svg
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Giant cowbird

Giant Cowbird - Pantanal - Brazil H8O0545 (23593619780).jpg

Molothrus oryzivorus
(Gmelin, JF, 1788)

Two subspecies
Southern Mexico south to northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago
Molothrus oryzivorus map.svg
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Shiny cowbird

Shiny cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) male.JPG
Male
Molothrus bonariensis Chamon comun Shiny Cowbird (female) (8348449535).jpg
Female

Molothrus bonariensis
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)

Seven subspecies
South America, the Caribbean, and Florida
Molothrus bonariensis map.svg
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Bronzed cowbird

Bronzed Cowbird (Molothrus aeneus) (7223072934).jpg

Molothrus aeneus
(Wagler, 1829)

Three subspecies
  • M. a. loyeiParkes & Blake, 1965
  • M. a. assimilis(Nelson, 1900)
  • M. a. aeneus(Wagler, 1829)
Southern U.S. states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana south through Central America to Panama
Molothrus aeneus map.svg
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Bronze-brown cowbird


Molothrus armenti
(Cabanis, 1851)
Colombia
Molothrus armenti map.svg
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 NT 


Brown-headed cowbird

Molothrus ater 2.jpg
Male
Brown headed cowbird female in JBWR (25490).jpg
Female

Molothrus ater
(Boddaert, 1783)

Three subspecies
Southern Canada, United States, and Mexico
Molothus ater Map.svg
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 



One extinct species, Molothrus resinosus , is known from fossil remains recovered from the Talara Tar Seeps of northwestern Peru, and likely went extinct during the late Quaternary. It may have been a close associate of Pleistocene megafauna communities, and may have gone extinct following their collapse in populations. [7] The convex-billed cowbird (Pandanaris convexa) is another extinct species that likely co-evolved with the megafauna, though it is placed in its own genus.

The nonparasitic baywings were formerly placed in this genus; they are now classified as Agelaioides.

Behavior

Cowbirds eat mostly insects and seeds. Some species follow ungulates to catch insects stirred up by the larger animals' grazing.

The birds in this genus are infamous for laying their eggs in other birds' nests. The female cowbird notes when a potential host bird lays its eggs, and when the nest is left momentarily unattended, the cowbird lays its own egg in it. The female cowbird may continue to observe this nest after laying eggs. Some bird species have evolved the ability to detect such parasitic eggs, and may reject them by pushing them out of their nests, but the female cowbird has been observed to attack and destroy the remaining eggs of such birds as a consequence, dissuading further removals. [8]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western bluebird</span> Species of bird

The western bluebird is a small North American thrush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain bluebird</span> Species of bird

The mountain bluebird is a migratory small thrush that is found in mountainous districts of western North America. It has a light underbelly and black eyes. Adult males have thin bills and are bright turquoise-blue and somewhat lighter underneath. Adult females have duller blue wings and tail, grey breast, grey crown, throat and back. In fresh fall plumage, the female's throat and breast are tinged with red-orange which is brownish near the flank, contrasting with white tail underparts. Their call is a thin 'few' while their song is a warbled high 'chur chur'. The mountain bluebird is the state bird of Idaho and Nevada. This bird is an omnivore and it can live 6 to 10 years in the wild. It eats spiders, grasshoppers, flies and other insects, and small fruits. The mountain bluebird is a relative of the eastern and western bluebirds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown-headed cowbird</span> Species of bird

The brown-headed cowbird is a small, obligate brood parasitic icterid native to temperate and subtropical North America. It is a permanent resident in the southern parts of its range; northern birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico in winter, returning to their summer habitat around March or April.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New World oriole</span> Genus of birds

New World orioles are a group of birds in the genus Icterus of the blackbird family. Unrelated to Old World orioles of the family Oriolidae, they are strikingly similar in size, diet, behavior, and strongly contrasting plumage. As a result, the two have been given the same vernacular name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brood parasitism</span> Animal reliance on other individuals to raise its young

Brood parasitism is a subclass of parasitism and phenomenon and behavioural pattern of animals that rely on others to raise their young. The strategy appears among birds, insects and fish. The brood parasite manipulates a host, either of the same or of another species, to raise its young as if it were its own, usually using egg mimicry, with eggs that resemble the host's. The strategy involves a form of aggressive mimicry called Kirbyan mimicry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giant cowbird</span> Species of bird

The giant cowbird is a large passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds from southern Mexico south to northern Argentina, and on Trinidad and Tobago. It may have relatively recently colonised the latter island. It is a brood parasite and lays its eggs in the nests of other birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shiny cowbird</span> Species of bird

The shiny cowbird is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds in most of South America except for dense forests and areas of high altitude such as mountains. Since 1900 the shiny cowbird's range has shifted northward, and it was recorded in the Caribbean islands as well as the United States, where it is found breeding in southern Florida. It is a bird associated with open habitats, including disturbed land from agriculture and deforestation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronzed cowbird</span> Species of bird in the Americas

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vermilion flycatcher</span> Species of bird in the Americas

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<i>Melanerpes</i> Genus of birds

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<i>Picus</i> (bird) Genus of birds

Picus is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family. It has representatives in Europe, Asia and North Africa. The genus name is Latin for "woodpecker". The genus Picus was erected by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-bellied grackle</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martinique oriole</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screaming cowbird</span> Species of bird

The screaming cowbird is an obligate brood parasite belonging to the family Icteridae and is found in South America. It is also known commonly as the short billed cowbird.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green oropendola</span> Species of bird

The green oropendola is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in wooded habitats in the Amazon basin and Guianas of South America, and is generally common. Uniquely among the oropendolas, the green oropendola has a pale bill with an orange tip. Male oropendola weigh around 400 grams, while females are in the 200 gram range. This is a common species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its status as being of "least concern".

In animal behaviour, a gens or host race is a lineage of a brood parasite species that inherits phenotypic traits adapted for a specific type of host, even though the whole parasite species uses a larger variety of hosts. Brood parasitism is particularly well-known in birds such as the common cuckoo, which lays its eggs in the nests of other birds and exploits the parental effort of the host bird to raise the parasitic offspring.

The convex-billed cowbird is an extinct species of bird in the family Icteridae, described in 1947 by Alden H. Miller. It is the only member of its genus, Pandanaris.

Molothrus resinosus is an extinct species of bird in the family Icteridae. Its fossils are from the late Pleistocene Talara Tar Seeps of northwestern Peru.

References

  1. "Icteridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. Swainson, William; Richardson, J. (1831). Fauna boreali-americana, or, The zoology of the northern parts of British America. Vol. Part 2. The Birds. London: J. Murray. p. 277. The title page bears the year 1831 but the volume did not appear until 1832.
  3. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1968). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 195.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . London: Christopher Helm. p.  258. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. "Cowbird" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  6. Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P. (July 2020). "IOC World Bird List (v 10.2)" . Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  7. Steadman, David W.; Oswald, Jessica A. (July 2020). "New species of troupial (Icterus) and cowbird (Molothrus) from ice-age Peru". The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 132 (1): 91–103. doi:10.1676/1559-4491-132.1.91. S2CID   220714575.
  8. Jeffrey P. Hoover; Scott K. Robinson (13 March 2007). "Retaliatory mafia behavior by a parasitic cowbird favors host acceptance of parasitic eggs". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 26 August 2009.

Further reading