Skip's Blips

By Skip

Just guessing...

...but this might be a female brown-headed cowbird. However, it equally well might not be! If you have a better ID for this bird, please leave a comment. I snapped her photograph as she sat on a branch overlooking the Chagrin River. I can recognize the male cowbird, but not the female. This bird was hanging out all by itself, but a group of cowbirds is known as a corral or a herd of cowbirds, just like their bovine counterparts. The name probably derives  from the fact that they historically followed herds of migrating bison and are still associated with cows and other large mammals.

If she is a cowbird, she has a bad habit of laying her eggs in the nests of other birds. For that reason they are called brood parasites, and are very unwelcome birds.

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