Colombia Birding: Araucana Lodge: Ruddy Gound Dove, Shiny Cowbird

Ruddy Ground Doves are common through much of Mexico, Central and South America.

Here is one posing on a lovely perch at the Araucana Lodge, near Cali, Colombia::

Cowbirds get little love due to their nest parasitism, forcing other species to raise their young.

The Shiny Cowbird is the South American and Caribbean equivalent of our Brown-headed Cowbird. In the past few decades it has spread into Florida.

Despite its unsavory reputation, the male Shiny Cowbird is quite a handsome bird!