cowbird
noun
cowbird is spelled C-O-W-B-I-R-D: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 136,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cowbird means “Any bird of the genus Molothrus. The cowbirds are brood parasites” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cowbird is cowbirds.
How many letters and syllables are in cowbird?
| Letters | 7: C-O-W-B-I-R-D |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 20 million words; the 136,649th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cowbird?
Cowbird appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 136,649th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cowbird?
- US
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-cowbird.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cowbird
- cowbirds plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cowbird mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any bird of the genus Molothrus. The cowbirds are brood parasites.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cowbird in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense bird of the genus Molothrus:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Kuhstärling |
| Spanish | tordo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cowbird come from?
From cow + bird, as they are often seen near cattle, feeding on insects stirred up by the hooves and those attracted to the manure, as well as fermented grains from the manure.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).