Crossword clues for cowbird
The Collaborative International 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.
Wiktionary
n. A small North American blackbird (''Molothrus ater'') that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds.
WordNet
n. North American blackbird that follows cattle and lays eggs in other birds' nests
Wikipedia
Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae. They are brood parasitic New World birds which are unrelated to the Old World cuckoos, one of which, the common cuckoo, is the most famous brood parasitic bird.
The Molothrus genus contains:
- Screaming cowbird, Molothrus rufoaxillaris
- Giant cowbird, Molothrus oryzivorus (formerly in Scaphidura)
- Bronzed cowbird, Molothrus aeneus
- Shiny cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis
- Brown-headed cowbird, Molothrus ater
The non-brood parasitic baywing was formerly placed in this genus; it is now classified as Agelaioides badius.
Usage examples of "cowbird".
His cowbird sat on a branch of the tree, as far as it could get from the injured man.
After watching for a while with its head craned forward, the cowbird extended its wings and flapped after its host.
The cowbird swooped down and slashed open his temple with the barb of its beak.
And no respectable bird family likes to have a loutish young Cowbird to bring up with their own children.
A cowbird rose from the ground nearby and flapped heavily towards the east.
Think of it, dear Jane Lawson, as a trick of nature whereby some great smirking cowbird came long ago and laid its egg in your nest.
And she saw what she thought might be a brown-headed cowbird, but it was too far away for her to be certain.
Czarnecki like an elderly cowbird while Assistant District Attorney Kevin Foster read the charges: speeding 74 in a 65 zone, driving while impaired, simple possession of marijuana.
Once, two phagors were seen, cowbirds perched with folded wings upon their shoulders, standing mute upon the far shore, regarding their crystalline dead.
Zzhrrk would ride the updraught so that he maintained a position directly above his master for hours at a time, wings outstretched, only his head moving from side to side, alert for other cowbirds gliding nearby.
Thus the insignificant louse that lived on phagors, burrowing in their coats, a titbit for cowbirds, became an unknowing instrument in saving the lives of many a protognostic.
Superstitious fears filled his mind, clearing only when he realised that he was seeing not a mountain, but something closer and entirely less permanent: a flight of cowbirds, converging as they streamed through a pass.
The cowbirds landed in the grass, stepping delicately together, making noises deep in their throats, as if anxiously awaiting events.
The fuggies ride kaidaws, ride them like the wind - aye, and have cowbirds to sail at their shoulders.
And the white cowbirds drive out all other winged things bar the eagles.