Brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). 

North America’s best-known brood parasite.  

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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode: 

• Brown-headed Cowbird song by Robert C. Stein and Eugene Morton (ML510050)
• Brown-headed Cowbird call by Wil Hershberger (ML510043)
• Brown-headed Cowbird flock  by Arthur A. Allen and Elsa G. Allen (ML510051)

Sources and more: 

• https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird
• https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/brown-headed-cowbird
• Dobson, C., Kassenbaum, D., Oehmke, D., & Misewicz, M. (2023). Field guide to hotspots and birds in Illinois. Scissortail LLC.
• Peterson, R. T., & Peterson, V. M. (1980). A field guide to the birds: A completely new guide to all the birds of eastern and central North America (Fourth edition, completely revised and enlarged.). Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Sibley, D. (2016). Sibley birds East: Field guide to birds of eastern North America (2nd ed.). Alfred A. Knopf.