Many biologists have a love/hate relationship with brown-headed cowbirds. We love their ecological and behavioral ingenuity, but we hate the impact they have on a variety of native nesting song birds.

While the brown-headed cowbird is native to North America, it is a much worse villain than the European starling — an invasive species that has expanded like wildfire in the U.S. since it was ...

DEAR JOAN: A California towhee has built a nest in our jasmine bush. She laid three eggs about one week ago. Now we look in the nest and there is a fourth egg and it sure looks like a cowbird egg. We ...

Brown-headed cowbirds are generalist brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of many other bird species and letting the host parents raise their young. A new study seeks to understand the ...

Nature has so many different ways to accomplish just one task – reproduction. At this time of year, it seems that everywhere I look I see baby birds. It’s a blizzard of baby birds being fed by their ...

Brown-headed cowbirds are not what one would call nice. The black birds with brown heads are known as brood parasites for their habit of laying eggs in the active nests of songbirds. Because their ...

When the female cowbird lays her egg in the nest, she also removes one or two warbler eggs from the nest. Generally, she takes out more eggs than she puts in the nest. When throwing away eggs, she is ...

Female brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) singing at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge near New York City. (Credit: Rhododendrites / CC BY-SA 4.0) Brown-headed cowbirds, Molothrus ater, are fascinating ...

Several people reported a strange sight at their feeders this past week. In all cases, a small bird was busily feeding a much larger begging bird. The smaller bird was indeed the parent. Unfortunately ...

It’s that time of year here in our neck of Pennsylvania when it’s prime nesting season for our feathered friends. Case in point: Our home in Northbrook is now surrounded by nesting birds. These ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Brown-headed cowbirds are generalist brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of many other bird species and letting the host parents raise their young. A new study seeks to ...