Date: 4/18/26 7:15 am From: Dominik Mosur via groups.io <dominikmosur...> Subject: Re: [EBB-Sightings] brown-headed cowbird
cowbirds are always around in the Bay Area. After the breeding season they
form flocks and become more localized. In spring they disperse to look for
nests to parasitize so you may see them more frequently and in more places.
But they never actually leave and I would not categorize them as ever being
uncommon or rare in a general sense.
One thing that will increase your detections is familiarizing yourself with
their vocalizations. They try to be sneaky when looking for nests and might
be tough to spot but they vocalize to each other.
dm
On Sat, Apr 18, 2026 at 7:04 AM Hilary Powers via groups.io <hilary=
<salamanderfeltworks.com...> wrote:
> On 4/17/2026 6:46 PM, ktandy2 via groups.io wrote:
>
> I live in North Oakland/Temescal on a commercial street. I have a bird
> feeder outside my front window and for the past few days I've had a
> brown-headed cowbird coming to the feeder! I have NEVER seen a cowbird in
> Oakland before, although I've seen them on Grizzly Island. Has anyone else
> seen cowbirds in the Oakland flats?
>
> They're uncommon but not astonishing at Lake Merritt at this time of year.
> I keep a record of what we see on the Golden Gate Bird Alliance
> 4th-Wednesday walk, and there's about a 50-50 chance in April and rather
> less in May and June. The rest of the year, unheard-of - dunno where they
> go then.
>
> --
> --
> ~ Hilary Powers - <Hilary...> - Oakland CA ~
> ~ www.salamanderfeltworks.com; www.Etsy.com/shop/SalamanderFeltworks ~
> ~ Now a member of the the Oakland Cottage Industry Collective! ~
> ~ Needle Felted Sculpture - Real and Fantasy Creatures ~
>
>
>
>
>
