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It may have been a grackle, a goose, or some other wild bird that infected a cow in northern Texas.

They withstand enormous loads of the virus without getting sick, passing it on to local species, like blackbirds, cowbirds, and grackles, that mix with migrating flocks.

Oddly, the dead birds on infected farms were not waterfowl, the migratory birds that typically spread the avian flu viruses to poultry, but “peridomestic” species such as grackles, blackbirds, and pigeons.

Across three different populations, the researchers first examined how quickly grackles learned food was hidden in one particular place over another.

Researchers investigating the great-tailed grackle, a bird that has been establishing new populations across North America in the past few decades, reveal that behavior might play a key role in their success.