USA, CA, Ridgecrest. Not sure of the ID for this one (seems out of place) (1 Viewer)

[GWeals]

Back in late July on a 113 degree day (45 for the rest of the enlightened world), about 30 to 35 of these landed (all at once) in front of my place in a area where I through out seed for the local sparrows, finches, doves, and quail. They ate up everything in about 30 minutes and they all left together. The next day they arrived as a group, ate for 30 minutes, and left as a group. Haven't seen them since.

At first I thought they were some type of Grackle but now I'm leaning Brown-headed Cowbird even though they seem lankier with longer beaks and seem somewhat out of place (middle of the Mojave Desert). Thoughts?

Additional pics here:

ID-1 – Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[Butty]

Yes.

 

[rkj]

Yes, they are Brown-headed Cowbirds.

 

[KC Foggin]

Indeed they are and not liked by many because they lay their eggs in other bird's nest.

 

[GWeals]

Indeed they are and not liked by many because they lay their eggs in other bird's nest.

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm finding that the ID process can be quite involved for a newbie like me even for something simple like this case (didn't seem like much of a challenge from the responders POV, lol).

Question: I posted 6 pics but only 4 show up with a thumbnail view. I'm wondering what is different about the other two.

Anyway, the second photo is somewhat humorous to me because one of the cowbirds has his/her entire head under water. I've never seen a non water bird do that. The part of the desert I'm in is at 2500 ft and very hot (we are near Death Valley) and the solar radiation is intense! The only plants that consistently survive here are creosote bushes and those are sparse. These Cowbirds, with their jet black backs, must have been very hot. I like to think that the cool water dripping into the pumice rock bowl was for them like a swimming pool is to kids on a hot summer day.

 

[rkj]

Not sure, but I think if the original photo file is too large a thumbnail is not produced.
It has been a very long time (and my memory may be suspect), but I once heard a seminar in which (if I recall correctly) the speaker claimed that in black desert birds the heat was trapped in the feathers and did not penetrate to the body as much as in paler birds.