Cowbird

Icterids
: Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Passeriformes : Icteridae : Molothrus

Cowbirds are birds belonging to the family Icteridae. They are brood parasitic New World birds which are unrelated to the european Cuckoo which is maybe the most well-known brood parasitic bird.

This family includes five species of parasitic cowbirds that form the natural genus Molothrus. This has been determined by phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences (Lanyon 1992, Johnson and Lanyon 1999, Lanyon and Omland 1999, in Lowther, 2004).

The genus Molothrus includes:

• Giant Cowbird Molothrus [formerly Scaphidura] oryzivorus
• Bay-winged Cowbird, Molothrus badius
• Screaming Cowbird, Molothrus rufoaxillaris
• Shiny Cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis
• Bronzed Cowbird, Molothrus aeneus
• Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater

It excludes the non-brood parasitic Bay-winged Cowbird Agelaioides [formerly Molothrus] badius.