| Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis (Gmelin, 1789)) |
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Scientific name: Molothrus bonariensis (Gmelin, 1789) Common name: Shiny Cowbird French name: Vacher luisant Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteridae Size: Body size: 18 to 22 cm; Weight: 31 to 63 g; Wingspan: about 30 cm. Habitat: Various open habitats, meadows, cultivated areas, parks and gardens up to urban areas, scrubland, savannahs, mangroves, etc. Food: Insects and seeds picked up on the ground, often in groups and near large wild or domestic mammals. Nesting: The Shiny Cowbird is a parasite of the nests of many other species. The female lays one egg there and unlike the European Common Cuckoo, the young Cowbird, once hatched, does not expel the other eggs. It will leave the nest after two weeks and continue to be fed by the parasitized birds for at least two more weeks. Migration: Sedentary in tropical regions, partially migratory in temperate regions. Geographic area: South America, missing in the extreme south, the Andes Mountains above 2000 meters above sea level, Chilean deserts and the heart of the Amazon forest. Central America north to Panama. West Indies, South Florida. This species is expanding to the north and south of its range. |
Male Shiny cowbirds have a completely black plumage with blue-purple sheen on the body and green-bronze on the wings and tail. The eye is dark brown, the legs and conical beak are blackish grey. Females are more or less dark depending on the subspecies. They are generally uniform brown with slightly lighter underparts. They have a long light eyebrow. Juveniles resemble females but are slightly more streaked. |
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Here is a male Shiny Cowbird searching for food in the gardens of Habitation Clément. |
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Shiny Cowbirds are often seen in groups. You see here one brown female accompanied by two males. |
André Bon December 2023