Giant Cowbird Molothrus oryzivorus

Giant Cowbird Molothrus oryzivorus
(aka Scaphidura oryzivora)

Brazilian name: iraúna-grande

Male Giant Cowbird, Pixaim, Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil, December 2006 - click for larger image

Pixaim, Mato Grosso, Brazil
December 2006

The Giant Cowbird male, seen here in photos 1 to 3, is almost entirely purplish-black with a ruff on the neck and a noticeably darker head. The iris varies in colour from red to yellow. The female, as seen in photo 4, is smaller and a duller black and lacks the ruff.

They are more birds of the forest than the Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) largely because, while they are brood parasites, they only lay their eggs in the nests of oropendolas and caciques which are forest-dwelling birds.

They are found from Mexico to Paraguay.

There are recordings and a distribution map on xeno-canto .

There are illustrations in Ridgely & Tudor, Volume 1, Plate 22; and Hilty & Brown, Plate 44.

Female Giant Cowbird, Pixaim, Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil, December 2006 - click for larger image

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