Shiny Cowbird

18-21.5 cm. Male glossy purplish black, the wings with a greenish gloss. <NThe female is dark gray above, lighter below with a light postocular stripe. <NThe juvenile is like the female, but streaked underneath. Wings and upperparts with pale fringes. The juvenile male is darker, and some are almost blackish gray. Call fast "tit-ti-it". Song gurgling followed by high notes | 4 low pitched "gloc" followed by high whistles "si- im" [2 , see vocalization 1. Song in flight a fast sequence of high whistles ^119 . Foraging in pairs or small groups on the ground, sometimes associated with cattle. On sleeping roosts up to several hundred. An egg parasite of many species, e. g. of /Zonotrichia capensis . Common in open agricultural country with scattered trees and bushes, outskirts of towns. Expands into deforested regions. Throughout. To 2100 meters 2958 Calls, song. Venezuela, LNS 58137. Recorded by W. Gunn.: 5187 > Male: 6824 > Female: 2212 > Juvenile: