Bird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Molothrus ater

Lives in Arkansas all year and nests here. Found in all 75 counties, across 9 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 75 counties
Habitats: 9

Male Brown-headed Cowbird, whole bird — **Male**. (c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 656878277. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 75 counties
Habitats: 9
Habitat models: Year-round

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Arkansas 9

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

1 of 9

Year-roundDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub RegenerationNamed place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundCentral Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and BarrensStanding water on a limestone glade. Shown: Flat Rock Cedar Glades and Barrens State Natural Area, Rutherford County, Tennessee, a neighboring state.Standing water, Flat Rock Cedar Glades and Barrens SNA, Rutherford County, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. 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

Floodplain and bottomland forests

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

Year-roundSouth-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Mississippi River Riparian Forest; Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest; Red River Large Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain; Ozark-Ouachita Riparian

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-roundCentral Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens

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

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

Year-roundCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Swamps

Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.

Year-roundLower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier

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 (47)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Arkansas.

Developed, Low Intensity Year-round.
Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Year-round.
Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Year-round.
Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Year-round.
South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Year-round.
Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Year-round.
North-Central Oak Barrens Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Year-round.
Cumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens Year-round.
Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Year-round.
Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Year-round.
Central Mixedgrass Prairie Year-round.
Florida Dry Prairie Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Year-round.
Recently Logged Areas Year-round.
Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Year-round.
Recently Burned Year-round.
Recently Burned Forest Year-round.
Recently Burned Grassland Year-round.
Recently Burned Shrubland Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Year-round.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Year-round.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.