It’s really neat to see a breeding pair of birds together. Yesterday we saw a pair of Cowbirds. There is a very interesting way that Cowbirds “raise” their young.
Male on the left, female on the right
The Brown-headed Cowbird is known as a “Brood Parasite” The Brown-headed Cowbirds do not make nests. Females put all energy into egg production, up to 3 dozen a season. Yes, you guessed it, the females lay their eggs in other birds nests. The eggs hatch before the host nest eggs do, giving the Cowbird young a head start. Some birds recognize these imposters and pitch the trespassers out of their nests. Some people consider Cowbirds a nuisance bird, as they are responsible for the destruction many songbird eggs.
Having spotted this pair, we can now surmise that somewhere nearby another unsuspecting bird family is wondering why that one chick is so much larger than the rest of their brood.
Roadtirement 
Can you imagine: **who do you think he looks like?** 😂
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😂😂 That’s what I thought as well. Quite a visual.
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One of my friends has a wren’s nest that a cowbird laid an egg in. The cowbird hatched yesterday. We’ll see how this progresses!
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That’ll be interesting to follow. Keep us posted….
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like the cuckoo then!
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Yep, that’s another brood parasite.
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Reblogged this on Love and Love Alone.
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What in the world? A squatter bird!
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Quite the character, aren’t they? Thanks for stopping by!
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Unfortunately the brood parasites can have a terrible impact on the true offspring especially if their natural offspring are structurally smaller as the cowbird chick will either exhaust the parents and cause them to focus too much time on feeding the larger bird or with their size simply kill or push the natural offspring out of the nest. Some birds are smart enough to extract the intruding egg out of the nest prior to hatching.
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Nature can indeed have many twists and turns. Thanks for stopping by.
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It seems unfair, and so like some people in our society, but to each his or her own. I used to think if we taught our young properly we would end the have and the have nots, but that has been knocked out of my head. There will always be those the are takers and those that are givers. We just have to make sure that the balance stays even.
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Isn’t it interesting how close the natural world is mimicked by us humans? Thanks for the spot on comments.
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Reblogged this on Time Traveler on the road of Life.
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Like our cuckoos
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yes, I have found that there are several birds that do this somewhat dastardly deed!
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I think Cuckoo birds do this as well. Am I right?
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Yes, you are spot on, cuckoos do the behavior.
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There is a cowbird in my neighborhood that was raised by Bluejays, and I know that because he hangs out exclusively with the 6 or 7 of them that come around (Jays are not typically groupers) and he plays Lookout while they hit the bird feeder in turns. Pretty amazing to see him adapting their movements and sounds.
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That is a neat share. Yes, surprising to hear of flocking Jays, that is rare. Sounds like the Cowbird has made the best of his situation.
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