The shiny cowbird male is black with a purple-blue iridescence. The female is smaller, has a dull-brown plumage and often paler on the underparts.
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| Shiny cowbird males in Ecuador. |
They are found in much of South America, but absent from a significant swath near the west coast of South America and a portion of the Amazon Basin.
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| Shiny cowbird range - from Wikipedia. |
There are seven subspecies. I saw the subspecies aequatorialis in Ecuador last year, near Churute Mangroves, all males, and I saw the subspecies cabanisii this year in Colombia at Tinamu Reserve, all females and juveniles.
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| A juvenile (left) and female (right), at Tinamu Reserve. |
A weird name. The juvenile is more attractive than the adult.
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