---
title: "All About Birds: Brown-headed Cowbird"
---

[![cornell lab](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-292886470.png?width=527&height=99&name=file-292886470.png "cornell lab")](http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478)

## Brown-headed Cowbird

## ![Brownheaded_Cowbird2_Harold_Weber_MS_2012](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-274823288.jpg)

 © Harold Weber

| ![what_they_eat](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-219239072.jpg?width=106&height=182&name=file-219239072.jpg) | **What they eat:** Brown-headed Cowbirds feed mostly on seeds from grasses and weeds, with some crop grains. At feeders, they prefer oats, milo, millet, and peanut hearts, and they tend to visit large hopper, platform, and ground feeders. |
| --- | --- |
| ![how_they_sound](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-218885748.jpg?width=194&height=182&name=file-218885748.jpg "how_they_sound") | **Where they live:** These birds occur in grasslands, as well as woodland edges, thickets, pastures, and residential areas. They are found throughout the entire continental U.S. and Mexico and across southern Canada. |
| **![where_they_live](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-219130301.jpg?width=93&height=79&name=file-219130301.jpg "where_they_live")** | **Did you know? **Cowbird eggs hatch faster than other species’ eggs, giving cowbird nestlings a head start in getting food from the parents. |
| **![did_you_know](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-218887603.jpg?width=118&height=87&name=file-218887603.jpg)** | **How they sound: **Male Brown-headed Cowbirds sing a liquid-sounding series of low gurgling notes followed by thin sliding whistles. |

 

**![sound](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-230263965.jpg?width=20&height=16&name=file-230263965.jpg) [Listen to the Brown-headed Cowbird](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-291082861.mp3?hsLang=es). **

** **

**To learn more, visit the Cornell Lab's free website: [www.allaboutbirds.org](http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/brown-headed_cowbird/id).**

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