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Bird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Molothrus ater

Lives in Alabama all year and nests here. Found in all 67 counties, across 12 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 67 counties
Habitats
12

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 67 counties
Habitats
12
Habitat models
Year-round

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Alabama 12

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 12

Streams, rivers and their banks

Blue Spring, Florida
Year-roundCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianWinslow Homer, Blue Spring, Florida (1890): clear blue spring water under overhanging palms. Shown: Blue Spring, Florida (Winslow Homer, 1890; National Gallery of Art), a neighboring state.Blue Spring, Florida, Winslow Homer, 1890. Public domain. Source record.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Year-round

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest; Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

Year-roundDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.

Year-roundRidge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland; Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops

Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.

Year-roundCumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest; Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

Year-roundSouth-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest

Prairies and grasslands

Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.

Year-roundEast Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier; East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Year-roundDeveloped, Open Space; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

Year-roundDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation
Other habitats in its models (40)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama. Those recorded in Alabama first, the rest by region.

In Alabama 1

  • Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
Elsewhere in the South (14)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Year-round.
  • Florida Dry Prairie Year-round.
  • Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Year-round.
  • Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Year-round.
  • Mississippi River Riparian Forest Year-round.
  • Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Year-round.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Year-round.
  • Red River Large Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • South Florida Hardwood Hammock Year-round.
  • Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Year-round.
Northeast (1)
  • Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Year-round.
Midwest (2)
  • Central Mixedgrass Prairie Year-round.
  • North-Central Oak Barrens Year-round.
Land cover and other classes (22)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • Developed, Low Intensity Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
  • Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Year-round.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Year-round.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Year-round.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Year-round.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Year-round.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Year-round.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Year-round.
  • Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Year-round.
  • Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Year-round.
  • Recently Burned Year-round.
  • Recently Burned Forest Year-round.
  • Recently Burned Grassland Year-round.
  • Recently Burned Shrubland Year-round.
  • Recently Logged Areas Year-round.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
  • Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.

All habitats

Seasons in Alabama

  • Year-round: nests here, in all 67 counties.

Food plants

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.

Native plants in these genera 326

Plant genera in its diet records (31)
  • Sorghum 12 diet records. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Zea 6 diet records. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Alopecurus 5 diet records. 1 native plant in Alabama
  • Ambrosia 5 diet records. 4 native plants in Alabama
  • Chenopodium 5 diet records. 3 native plants in Alabama
  • Murdannia 5 diet records. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Amaranthus 4 diet records. 2 native plants in Alabama
  • Helianthus 4 diet records. 23 native plants in Alabama
  • Paspalum 4 diet records. 17 native plants in Alabama
  • Panicum 3 diet records. 6 native plants in Alabama
  • Avena 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Digitaria 2 diet records. 5 native plants in Alabama
  • Eleusine 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Polygonum 2 diet records. 4 native plants in Alabama
  • Setaria 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Alabama
  • Sporobolus 2 diet records. 15 native plants in Alabama
  • Triticum 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Acalypha 1 diet record. 5 native plants in Alabama
  • Andropogon 1 diet record. 15 native plants in Alabama
  • Barbarea 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Carex 1 diet record. 140 native plants in Alabama
  • Cyperus 1 diet record. 44 native plants in Alabama
  • Echinochloa 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Alabama
  • Hedeoma 1 diet record. 3 native plants in Alabama
  • Lespedeza 1 diet record. 11 native plants in Alabama
  • Oryza 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Scirpus 1 diet record. 8 native plants in Alabama
  • Secale 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Solanum 1 diet record. 6 native plants in Alabama
  • Vitis 1 diet record. 10 native plants in Alabama
  • Xanthium 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Alabama

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Alabama, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 104

Plants 418

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in Alabama

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Birds 114

Plants 1485

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Alabama

Dry forests and woodlands

Birds 79

Plants 224

All of dry forests and woodlands in Alabama

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources