Brown-headed Cowbird Photos
South Dakota Birds and Birding
Photos of Brown-headed Cowbird- Molothrus ater - by Terry Sohl - South Dakota Birds and Birding
My Favorite: Brown-headed Cowbirds aren't exactly everybody's favorite bird. Given their breeding strategy is to lay their eggs in the nests of other species, and let that species raise it's young (often at the expense of its own young), it's hard for people not to anthropomorphize that behavior and think of cowbirds as bad guys. My view on it has changed over the years...they're a native bird, doing what they do, and it's hard to fault them for it. I do admit though my own tolerance gets tested in a situation like photo #12 below, where a lone Brown-headed Cowbird chick in a tiny Chipping Sparrow nest ended up kicking out the two Chipping Sparrow young, and leaving the parents to raise it alone. Not a behavior most people can really understand and get behind!
While they're not a favorite bird for folks by any means, in the right light, male cowbirds can be uniquely attractive. This guy was caught taking a bath in a puddle in Minnehaha County, South Dakota in May of 2011.
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Brown-headed Cowbird 1 |
Brown-headed Cowbird 2 |
Brown-headed Cowbird 3 |
Brown-headed Cowbird 4 |
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May 9th, 2011 |
July 17th, 2004 |
May 9th, 2006 |
July 7th, 2008 |
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Minnehaha County, South Dakota |
Fort Pierre National Grasslands, S. Dakota |
Minnehaha County, South Dakota |
Pactola Reservoir, South Dakota |
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Male cowbird bathing in puddle |
Juvenile cowbird on barbed wire fence |
Female cowbird perched in brush |
Male cowbird foraging on the ground |
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Brown-headed Cowbird 5 |
Brown-headed Cowbird 6 |
Brown-headed Cowbird 7 |
Brown-headed Cowbird 8 |
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May 21st, 2009 |
May 9th, 2011 |
July 5th, 2010 |
June 7th, 2020 |
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Big Sioux Recreation Area, South Dakota |
Minnehaha County, South Dakota |
Badlands National Park, South Dakota |
Minnehaha County, South Dakota |
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Female cowbird foraging on the ground |
Male cowbird taking a bath in a puddle |
Female cowbird hanging out on a barbed wire fence |
Male cowbird on wooden fence post |
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Brown-headed Cowbird 9 |
Brown-headed Cowbird 10 |
Brown-headed Cowbird 11 |
Brown-headed Cowbird 12 |
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May 5th, 2016 |
May 5th, 2016 |
May 10th, 2020 |
June 16th, 2020 |
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Lincoln County, South Dakota |
Lincoln County, South Dakota |
Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota |
Brandon, South Dakota |
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Male cowbird perched on barbed wire fence |
Male cowbird perched on barbed wire fence |
Male cowbird head-on in a tree |
Baby cowbird in a Chipping Sparrow's nest |
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Brown-headed Cowbird 13 |
Brown-headed Cowbird 14 |
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August 9th, 2020 |
August 9th, 2020 |
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McCook County, South Dakota |
McCook County, South Dakota |
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Male in an eastern red cedar full of fruit |
Female perched in a dead tree top |
Click here for the species description page for the Brown-headed Cowbird.