States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaArkansasFloridaLouisianaMississippiVirginiaWest Virginia
Menu

Bird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Molothrus ater

Lives in North Carolina all year and nests here. Found in all 100 counties, across 8 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 100 counties
Habitats
8

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 100 counties
Habitats
8
Habitat models
Year-round

Where it lives

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

Habitats in North Carolina 8

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

1 of 8

Floodplain and bottomland forests

fallen (uprooted) tree
Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream 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; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large FloodplainNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain"
Year-roundDeveloped, Open Space; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old FieldLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr)Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain", Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70
Year-roundCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. 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-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

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

Moderately dry forests

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

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

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 (48)

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

In North Carolina 1

  • Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
Elsewhere in the South (19)
  • Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Year-round.
  • Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Year-round.
  • Cumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest 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.
  • Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Year-round.
  • South Florida Hardwood Hammock Year-round.
  • South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest 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 (25)
  • Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Year-round.
  • Developed, Low Intensity Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest 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 North Carolina

  • Year-round: nests here, in all 100 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 284

Plant genera in its diet records (31)
  • Sorghum 12 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Zea 6 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Alopecurus 5 diet records. 1 native plant in North Carolina
  • Ambrosia 5 diet records. 4 native plants in North Carolina
  • Chenopodium 5 diet records. 1 native plant in North Carolina
  • Murdannia 5 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Amaranthus 4 diet records. 3 native plants in North Carolina
  • Helianthus 4 diet records. 16 native plants in North Carolina
  • Paspalum 4 diet records. 11 native plants in North Carolina
  • Panicum 3 diet records. 5 native plants in North Carolina
  • Avena 2 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Digitaria 2 diet records. 3 native plants in North Carolina
  • Eleusine 2 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Polygonum 2 diet records. 5 native plants in North Carolina
  • Setaria 2 diet records. 3 native plants in North Carolina
  • Sporobolus 2 diet records. 8 native plants in North Carolina
  • Triticum 2 diet records. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Acalypha 1 diet record. 3 native plants in North Carolina
  • Andropogon 1 diet record. 11 native plants in North Carolina
  • Barbarea 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Carex 1 diet record. 148 native plants in North Carolina
  • Cyperus 1 diet record. 35 native plants in North Carolina
  • Echinochloa 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
  • Hedeoma 1 diet record. 1 native plant in North Carolina
  • Lespedeza 1 diet record. 9 native plants in North Carolina
  • Oryza 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Scirpus 1 diet record. 10 native plants in North Carolina
  • Secale 1 diet record. 0 native plants in North Carolina
  • Solanum 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
  • Vitis 1 diet record. 2 native plants in North Carolina
  • Xanthium 1 diet record. 1 native plant in North Carolina

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, 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 70

Plants 367

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in North Carolina

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Birds 89

Plants 1314

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in North Carolina

Forest edges and thickets

Birds 40

Plants 231

All of forest edges and thickets in North Carolina

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources