cowbird

cow·bird

C0707000 (kou′bûrd′)n. Any of various blackbirds of the genus Molothrus, especially the common North American species M. ater, that lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and are often seen accompanying herds of grazing cattle.

[From their habit of staying with cattle.]

cowbird

(ˈkaʊˌbɜːd) n (Animals) any of various American orioles of the genera Molothrus, Tangavius, etc, esp M. ater (common or brown-headed cowbird). They have a dark plumage and short bill

cow•bird

(ˈkaʊˌbɜrd)

n. any blackbird of the genera Molothrus and Schapidura, noted for their brood parasitism, esp. the common North American species M. ater. [1795–1805, Amer.]

Thesaurus

Noun

cowbird - North American blackbird that follows cattle and lays eggs in other birds' nestsblackbird, New World blackbird - any bird of the family Icteridae whose male is black or predominantly blackgenus Molothrus, Molothrus - cowbirds

cowbird

cowbird,

New World bird of the blackbird and oriole (hangnest) family. The male eastern, or common, cowbird is glossy black, about 8 in. (20 cm) long, with a brown head and breast; the female is gray. Most cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of smaller bird species, victimizing especially vireos, sparrows, and flycatchers. Sometimes the alien egg is ejected or buried under a new nest floor or the nest is abandoned, but usually the host bird incubates the egg and feeds the voracious intruder while its smaller offspring are starved or crowded out. Cowbirds eat seeds but feed chiefly on insects, following behind grazing cattle in order to capture the insects stirred up in this way—hence the name cowbird and the earlier name buffalo bird. Related birds are the bronzed, the California, the dwarf, the Nevada, and the red-eyed cowbirds. Cowbirds are classified in the phylum ChordataChordata
, phylum of animals having a notochord, or dorsal stiffening rod, as the chief internal skeletal support at some stage of their development. Most chordates are vertebrates (animals with backbones), but the phylum also includes some small marine invertebrate animals.
..... Click the link for more information. , subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Icteridae.

cowbird

cow·bird

cowbird

cow•bird

cowbird

cowbird,

cowbird

Words related to cowbird

noun North American blackbird that follows cattle and lays eggs in other birds' nests

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