First Specimen of the Shiny Cowbird, 
Molothrus bonariensis (Aves: Emberizidae), 
in North Carolina 
William Post 
Charleston Museum , 360 Meeting Street 
Charleston, South Carolina 29403 
ABSTRACT — The first North Carolina specimen of the shiny cow- 
bird ( Molothrus bonariensis ), representing the fourth collected in 
North America, was obtained at New Bern, Craven County, in 
1990. 
Since about 1900, the shiny cowbird has been spreading 
northward through the West Indies at an accelerating pace (Post 
and Wiley 1977, Post et al. 1992). This species was first sighted 
in North America, on the Florida Keys, in 1985 (Smith and 
Sprunt 1987). It was photographed on the Florida mainland in 1987 
(Smith and Sprunt 1987). Since it was first noted on the mainland 
of North America, the shiny cowbird has spread throughout Florida, 
particularly south of Tampa (Post et al. 1992). Individual cow- 
birds have begun to make long-range movements from the Florida 
population center, reaching as far northwest as Oklahoma (Grzy- 
bowski and Fazio 1991) and northeast to Maine (Surner 1992). 
As yet, only a few shiny cowbirds have been collected in 
North America. The first North American specimen was obtained in 
1989 in South Carolina (Hutcheson and Post 1990). The second 
and third were obtained in 1990, in Texas (G. D. Baumgardner, 
Texas A & M University, in litt.) and in Oklahoma (Grzybowski 
and Fazio 1991), respectively. 
The fourth North American specimen, and the first for North 
Carolina, was obtained by Robert P. Holmes, III at New Bern, 
Craven County, on 29 October 1990. The specimen is an adult 
(after second-year) male (USNM No. 597,185). The skull was fully 
pneumetized. Testes measurements were left: 1.5 x 1.5 mm and 
right: 1.0 x 1.0 mm. The bird had no subcutaneous fat. Mass was 
not recorded. The flattened wing length (wrist to tip of longest 
primary) was 100.0 mm. The wing molt was completed. The bird 
was still undergoing a slight body molt in the region of the malars 
and upper breast. By comparison with specimens in the Charleston 
Museum, I determined that the individual belongs to the subspecies 
M. b. minimus. 
Besides being the first specimen for North Carolina, this also 
appears to be the first verifiable record for the state. The species 
Brimleyana 19:205-206, December 1993 
205 
