Hyperion helped me identify this bird. He has a quick eye, and catches the details of their appearance much better than I. I don't see so well. So, I take as many photos of the subject as I can, and then go home to confirm my identification with the still shots.
The identification for this bird wasn't hard, as this bird clearly has a brown head, and there aren't any close look-alikes to mix it up with. For the males, anyway. The females would be a lot more difficult to identify without a good, clear look or photo, as they are much more drab in appearance.
These birds usually travel in flocks, and often hang out around herds of grazing animals, such as cows, to eat the insects stirred up by the larger animals. They used to accompany the great bison herds on the plains, which are no more.
They are considered parasitic, because the mother birds will lay their eggs, one at a time, in the nests of different birds, who often end up raising the baby at the expense of their own young. However, some birds kick the strange egg out of their nest, or kick out the baby bird once hatched.
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