Plate 47, Top

Scientific Name: Molothrus bonariensis

Other Names:

• Spanish: Tordo Renegrido
• French: Vacher luisant
• German: Seidenkuhstärling

Binomial name (nomenclature): Tanagra bonariensis J. F. Gmelin, 1789, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Genus: Molothrus

Family: Icteridae

Range: Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Barbados; Bolivia, Plurinational States of; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba; Brazil; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Cuba; Curaçao; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; French Guiana; Grenada; Guadeloupe; Guyana; Haiti; Martinique; Montserrat; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Puerto Rico; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Sint Maarten (Dutch part); Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; United States; Uruguay; Venezuela; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.

Description:

Male: All black with an iridescent purple-blue sheen.

Female: Dark brown, paler underparts.

Habitat: Prefers open woodland. Flourishes in cultivated areas.

Food: Feeds mainly on insects, some seeds, and forages on the ground or perches on cattle.

Breeding: Most of South America other than dense jungle areas, mountains, deserts, areas of cold temperature, and the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. M. bonariensis parasitizes nests from other bird species sometimes removing the host’s eggs. It prefers the nests of Zonotrichia capensis and Fluvicola nengeta.

Voice: Male song is a “purr purr purrte-tseee” sound. The female makes a harsh rattling sound.

• Song: http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/12599/molothrus-bonariensis-shiny-cowbird-venezuela-distrito-federal-paul-schwartz
• Call: http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/20181/molothrus-bonariensis-shiny-cowbird-brazil-rio-grande-do-sul-william-belton

Status: Least Concern. M. bonariensis has a very large range, a very large population, and is increasing in population. Therefore, it is not a species of concern.

Resources:

• Videos
  • The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://macaulaylibrary.org/search?taxon=Molothrus%20bonariensis&taxon_rank_id=67&taxon_id=12009664&tab=video-thumb
  • The Internet Bird Collection: http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/shiny-cowbird-molothrus-bonariensis?only=videos#videos
• Photos:
  • The Internet Bird Collection: http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/shiny-cowbird-molothrus-bonariensis?only=photos#photos
• Sounds:
  • The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://macaulaylibrary.org/search?taxon=Molothrus%20bonariensis&taxon_rank_id=67&taxon_id=12009664&tab=audio-list
  • The Internet Bird Collection: http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/shiny-cowbird-molothrus-bonariensis?only=sounds#sounds