Adjacent Words

cowbird definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: North American blackbird that follows cattle and lays eggs in other birds' nests

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1810 any of a genus (Molothrus of the family Icteridae) of New World blackbirds that lay their eggs in the nests of other birds; especially one (M. ater) widespread in the United States and southern Canada in which the male is black with a brown head and the female is gray

Britannica Concise

Any of six or seven passerine species in the family Icteridae that are parasitic egg layers. Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, usually one to each host nest. Young cowbirds, which displace competing nestlings or take over their food, may grow larger than the foster parents. Some species parasitize many kinds of birds; others use the nests of only one or two kinds of oriole. Cowbirds forage on the ground, often associating with cattle in order to catch insects stirred up by the cows' hooves. The male of most species is a uniform glossy black, the female grayish brown.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cowbird Cow"bird` (-b[~e]rd`), n. (Zo["o]l.) The cow blackbird (Molothrus ater), an American starling. Like the European cuckoo, it builds no nest, but lays its eggs in the nests of other birds; -- so called because frequently associated with cattle.