Cowbird

Cowbird
Female brown-headed cowbird
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Icteridae
Genus: Molothrus
Swainson, 1832
Type species
Fringilla pecoris[1]
Species

Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae. They are of New World origin, but some species not native to North America are invasive there, and are obligate brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species.

The genus was introduced by English naturalist William Swainson in 1832 with the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) as the type species.[2][3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek mōlos, meaning "struggle" or "battle", with thrōskō, meaning "to sire" or "to impregnate".[4] The English name "cowbird", first recorded in 1839, refers to this species often being seen near cattle.[5]

  1. ^ "Icteridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ Swainson, William John; Richardson, J. (1831). Fauna boreali-americana, or, The zoology of the northern parts of British America. Vol. Part 2. The Birds. London: J. Murray. p. 277. The title page bears the year 1831 but the volume did not appear until 1832.
  3. ^ Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1968). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 195.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ "Cowbird". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)