Brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater)

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Photo by joan6153

Published on Project Noah

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26.3587, -80.0831

Field Notes

Description:

The female red-winged blackbird in the rear appeared to be feeding the male brown-headed cowbird in the foreground. The cowbird is a winter visitor to south Florida and will sometimes travel in flocks with red-winged blackbirds.

Habitat:

Along an inland fresh water canal.

Notes:

Brown-headed cowbirds do not raise their own young, instead laying their eggs in the nests of other bird species and expecting the hosts to take care of the cowbird young. If the host birds reject the cowbird nestling, the parent cowbird sometimes returns and attacks the host family in retaliation.

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