Fun Bronzed Cowbird Facts For Kids

It can be surprising to see the commitment of certain birds in building the nests, hatching eggs, and taking care of young ones. There are a few clever birds that communicate with other species to raise their juveniles.

These birds are known as brood parasites. Here we are discussing one such brood parasite, the Bronzed cowbird, that belongs to the order Passeriformes family Icteridae.

The Bronzed cowbird, Molothrus aeneus, is one of the North American birds. It was first found in 1961 in Louisiana.

There are five types of cowbirds. Only the Brown-headed cowbird and Bronzed cowbird are found in North America.

The three subspecies in this family are M. a. aeneus, found in eastern Mexico to central Panama and South Texas, M. a. assimilis, found in Southwestern Mexico, and M. a. loyei, found in Northwestern Mexico and the Southwestern United States.

They often lay eggs in nests of the Hooded Oriole, and skip the hard work of raising the young ones!

Read more to learn about different species in this family. If you have an interest in similar species, check out our articles on the Nicobar pigeon and prairie falcon.

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Bronzed Cowbird Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a bronzed cowbird?

The Bronzed cowbird, Molothrus aeneus, is a medium-sized bird that belongs to the Icteridae family order Passeriformes. These birds neither build nests nor hatches their eggs.

What class of animal does a bronzed cowbird belong to?

The Bronzed cowbird is a bird, belonging to the Aves class, order Passeriformes, family Icteridae. They continuously move behind the cattle in search of prey found on the surface of these grazing animals; there is no option for them to build nests and hatch the eggs.

So intentionally or unintentionally, their breeding strategy leads them to take the help of other species and lay their eggs.

How many bronzed cowbirds are there in the world?

According to Partners in Flight estimates, there are nearly 6.6 million Bronzed cowbirds worldwide.

Where does a bronzed cowbird live?

This brood parasite extends from the Mexico border to north Colombia, covering all Central American countries. They live in Arizona, Mexico, California, Southcentral Texas, and South Louisiana, from Central America to Panama. During the summer season, the population of these species is abundant in South Texas.

What is a bronzed cowbird's habitat?

These North American birds are found in various habitats such as forests, deserts, open wood in the mountains. They are also found in semi-open countries, brush, and in farmlands. Outside breeding season habitat of these birds is thick woods and open habitats. They are often found foraging open areas, ground, and cattle feedlots.

Who do bronzed cowbirds live with?

A concrete group of birds is called a flock. A group of cowbirds is called a herd or corral. Bronzed cowbirds are sociable birds generally found in small flocks of up to 100 birds. In non-breeding season these birds are often found socializing with other blackbirds species while foraging for seeds and grains and traveling.

How long does a bronzed cowbird live?

The average lifespan of a Brown-headed cowbird is 15 years, whereas the average lifespan of this Bronzed cowbird is six years. The longevity is not known exactly.

How do they reproduce?

The Bronzed cowbirds follow the promiscuous mating system. Both males and females have multiple partners. Males try to grab the attention of females by flapping their feathers and lower the head and tail. He points his bill downward as in a singing position. They also display fluttering of wings in front of females, usually in the mornings.

The breeding season in Texas is observed from March to September. The mother searches for nests to lay the eggs and lays at least one egg per day.

This process may range to at least a week when they lay eggs in the nests of host species; the host birds cannot differentiate the cowbird eggs from their eggs and start hatching their eggs along with cowbird eggs. During this process, the eggs of the host species may be broken.

The cowbird eggs are in pale blue-green color. Most of the time, the Bronzed cowbird's eggs are more significant than the size of host eggs.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of these Bronzed North American birds is listed as Least Concern.

Bronzed Cowbird Fun Facts

What does bronzed cowbird look like?

This bird has a robustly built structure with a sharp and curved bill. The adult males are blackish with purplish-blue wings and thick necks, famous for their helicopter flight display, whereas females vary geographically.

In the Eastern range, both females and juveniles are blackish and in the western range, they are grayish brown. Both adults have dark red eyes. The wingspan is 13 in (33 cm).

How cute are they?

Bronzed cowbirds are not considered as cute birds because of their parasitic nature. They often damage the eggs of the host species.

How do they communicate?

Singing is the primary source of communication for these species in this family. The other means of communication are flight whistles and single-syllable calls. Though the parents do not raise the young ones, it is fascinating that they adapt the singing and whistling techniques of the parent species.

Like the Brown-headed Cowbird, the male Bronzed cowbird sings with a burrier quality. They also make liquid flight whistles, just like Brown-headed cowbirds. They communicate during courtship, alerting against any threats.

How big is a bronzed cowbird?

The average length and weight of male species are 7.9 in (20 cm) and 2.4 oz (68 g), whereas females' average length and weight are 7.3 in (18.5 cm) and 2 oz (56 g). They are slightly larger than the Brown-headed cowbird. The idle weight of a Brown-headed cowbird is 1-1.75 oz.

How fast can a bronzed cowbird fly?

The information on the exact speed of cowbirds is not known but they fly directly, with continuous wingbeats.

How much does a bronzed cowbird weigh?

The male Bronzed cowbird weighs around 2.4 oz (68 g) and the female Bronzed cowbird weighs around 2.0 oz (56 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

The male is named as male Bronzed cowbird, and females are known as female Bronzed cowbird. Both have intense red eyes.

What would you call a baby bronzed cowbird?

The babies are known as a nestling. Young ones are taken care of by host species in terms of hatching and feeding and their young ones.

Once hatched, the Bronzed juveniles grow rapidly, and the incubation period ranges from 10-12 days. The young one resembles the mother but has gray feather fringes and heavy streaking on the belly. The birth weight is 0.146 oz (4.15 g ).

What do they eat?

Cowbirds often follow the cattle to prey on the insects (beetles) and worms that settle on the surface of these animals. They also eat seeds and grasses. They depend on a wide variety of grains such as rice, oats, and corn. They mostly forage on the ground and walk quickly to capture the food with its beak.

Are they dangerous?

These species of cowbirds are not dangerous to humans, but yes, they may sometimes be dangerous to host species. The parasitism of the cowbirds has resulted in the endangered status of some species, and in a decrease in the population of these birds.

An example of these North American birds as brood parasites who lay eggs in the nests of other birds and affect the population of the hosts is seen in the Hooded Orioles in southern Texas.

Would they make a good pet?

No, they do not make good pets as their natural habitat is one we cannot create.

Did you know...

According to the Cornell Lab reports, Bronzed cowbird eggs are found in almost 140 species of bird nests. The frequent host birds of Bronzed cowbirds are towhees, orioles, thrashers, other smaller birds, including gnatcatchers and warblers.

The oldest Bronzed cowbird is a male who was years eight old when found in Texas.

Bronzed cowbirds which belong Icteridae family order Passeriformes rely on calcium-rich food such as snails during the breeding season.

Both ranges of two subspecies, loyei, and aeneus, meet in western Texas, which is uncommon.

The Brown-headed cowbirds are invasive as when the host bird recognizes and refuses the Brown-headed cowbirds' eggs, the Brown-headed cowbirds sometimes take revenge on the host birds by destroying the nests or killing the eggs of the host species. However, once the cowbirds hatch they do not kill their nestmates.

Why do they call it a cowbird?

These species earned the name of cowbird because they follow the herds of cattle such as cows and buffalos for food, such as insects that settle on the bodies of these grazing animals.

Why do cowbirds puff up?

Generally, cowbirds puff up their feathers to keep their body warm. By puffing up their feathers, they capture a large amount of air, and through the condensation process, their body temperature is maintained. The other reason is that the male cowbirds often puff out their chest and spread their wings and tails to attract and impress the female species.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds from our flycatcher fun facts for kids and ring-necked duck facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable bronzed cowbird coloring pages.