Last of the Icteridae this morning, one of the "nuisance" or "parasitic" birds. The Brown-headed Cowbird followed the great bison migration when the continent was native. They were effectively confined to the Great Plains by the Migration. After the mass slaughter of Bison to control Native Americans, the range of the Brown-headed Cowbird exploded to encompass most of the country.

Cowbirds do not build nests, instead they lay eggs in the nests of other birds. A single female may lay as many as 36 eggs in a season. If the parasitized birds do not recognize and remove or destroy the foreign eggs, they may end up raising only the cowbird chick. This can result in dramatic losses in populations of birds like the Black-capped Vireo and Kirtland's Warbler.

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