---
title: "Brown-headed Cowbird"
description: "Molothrus ater — Uccelli. The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a small, obligate brood parasitic icterid native to temperate and subtropical North America."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/brown-headed-cowbird
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Brown-headed Cowbird

> Molothrus ater — Uccelli. The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a small, obligate brood parasitic icterid native to temperate and subtropical North America.

- Scientific name: *Molothrus ater*
- Category: `birds` (Uccelli)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Prati e campi), `urban` (Città e giardini), `farm` (Fattoria)
- iNaturalist observations: 108817
- Wikidata: [Q901568](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q901568)
- iNaturalist taxon: [10373](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/10373)

## Names

- en: Brown-headed Cowbird
- de: Braunkopf-Kuhstärling
- es: Tordo cabeza café
- fr: Vacher à tête brune
- nl: Bruinkopkoevogel
- pt: Chopim-mulato
- pl: Starzyk brunatnogłowy

## Countries with the most observations

US (79122), CA (14658), MX (3577)

## Summary

The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a small, obligate brood parasitic icterid native to temperate and subtropical North America. It is a permanent resident in the southern parts of its range; northern birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico in winter, returning to their summer habitat around March or April.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown-headed_cowbird

## Photo

![Brown-headed Cowbird](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/brown-headed-cowbird/medium.jpg)

Photo: Dario Taraborelli · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/36205657

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/brown-headed-cowbird?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).