Day 110: Shiny Cowbird

The Shiny Cowbird breeds in most of South America and has recently colonized many of the Caribbean islands (including Puerto Rico). The Shiny Cowbird first reached the U.S. in 1985 when a single male was seen in the Florida Keys. By the early 1990s, they were considered permanent residents in southern Florida. In the next few years, individual Shiny Cowbirds were seen as far away as Maine and Nova Scotia.

The male Shiny Cowbird is all black with an iridescent purple-blue gloss. The smaller female is dark brown in plumage, paler on the underparts. As I mentioned in my post about the Yellow-shouldered Blackbird, the Shiny Cowbird is a parasitic species, laying its eggs in the nests of many other bird species. Its spread has imperiled a number of endangered bird species in the Caribbean and raised conservation concerns in the U.S.