Screaming cowbird
Molothrus rufoaxillaris Cassin, 1866
The screaming cowbird (Molothrus rufoaxillaris) is a species in the family Icteridae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 47.5 g to 60.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the screaming cowbird
- Weight
- 47.5 g – 60.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- human_modifiedsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the screaming cowbird live?
Not recorded
What is the screaming cowbird?
The screaming cowbird (Molothrus rufoaxillaris) is an obligate brood parasite belonging to the family Icteridae and is found in South America. It is also known commonly as the short billed cowbird.
From the Wikipedia article “Screaming cowbird” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Screaming_cowbird&oldid=1384691441), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the screaming cowbird endangered?
The screaming cowbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the screaming cowbird classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyIcteridae
- genusMolothrus
- SpeciesMolothrus rufoaxillaris Cassin, 1866
Other names and names in other languages (33)
- شحرور البقر الصياحArabic
- vaquer fumatCatalan
- vlhovec pastvinnýCzech
- aderyn gwartheg duWelsh
- LarmkostærDanish
- RotachselkuhstärlingGerman
- Rotachsel-KuhstärlingGerman
- kriema bovikteroEsperanto
- Tordo chillónSpanish
- Mirlo de pico cortoSpanish
- Tordo pico cortoSpanish
- silkkiturpiaaliFinnish
- Vacher criardFrench
- crni čvorkašCroatian
- pampa gulyajáróHungarian
- Vaccaro urlatoreItalian
- ナキコウウチョウJapanese
- rėksmingasis karvapaukštisLithuanian
- RoodokselkoevogelDutch
- skriketrupialNorwegian
- starzyk krótkodziobyPolish
- chupim-azevichePortuguese
- vaqueiro-gritadorPortuguese
- Vira-bosta-picumãPortuguese
- Крикливый трупиалRussian
- Крикливый коровий трупиалRussian
- zanášač krikľavýSlovak
- Vrišteća kravaricaSerbian
- skrikkostareSwedish
- Çığlıkçı inekkuşuTurkish
- вашер короткодзьобийUkrainian
- 啸声牛鹂Chinese
- 嘯聲牛鸝Chinese
Relatives of the screaming cowbird
Other species in the same genus Molothrus.
Brown-headed cowbird
Molothrus ater
Shiny cowbird
Molothrus bonariensis
Bronzed cowbird
Molothrus aeneus
Giant cowbird
Molothrus oryzivorus
Bronze-brown cowbird
Molothrus armenti
CompareScreaming cowbird vs Brown-headed cowbirdScreaming cowbird vs Shiny cowbirdScreaming cowbird vs Bronzed cowbirdScreaming cowbird vs Giant cowbird
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the screaming cowbird?
An adult screaming cowbird weighs 47.5 g – 60.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the screaming cowbird endangered?
The screaming cowbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the screaming cowbird?
The screaming cowbird (Molothrus rufoaxillaris) belongs to the family Icteridae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Screaming cowbird (Molothrus rufoaxillaris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/screaming-cowbird
“Screaming cowbird (Molothrus rufoaxillaris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/screaming-cowbird.
@misc{screaming_cowbird_2026,
title = {Screaming cowbird (Molothrus rufoaxillaris)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/screaming-cowbird},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}