The much maligned Brown-headed Cowbird.


Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, June 29, 2020.

Molothrus ater
Females forgo building nests and instead put all their energy into producing eggs, sometimes more than three dozen a summer. These they lay in the nests of other birds, abandoning their young to foster parents, usually at the expense of at least some of the host’s own chicks. Once confined to the open grasslands of middle North America, cowbirds have surged in numbers and range as humans built towns and cleared woods.

Comments

Irene said…
Hi Ric--and any other readers.
I have recently discovered that Cowbirds don't
ALWAYS leave the eggs for others to raise !
During my Isolation time, I had loads of time to
study the backyard birds. One day I noticed a pair
of Cowbirds flitting about in the backyard--just
the one day--. In due time, I was pleasantly
surprised to see Mama Cowbird with 3 young
following close behind ! This went on for many days.
Eventually Mama left, and the young ones have
stayed near-by. They show no fear of people and
often come very close to us.
I'm curious--does this sometime happen ?
10:20 pm
Rondeau Ric said…
Not sue Irene, I haven't seen it and haven't heard about it before.
8:07 am
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