Tony LePrieur took these great photos of a huge Brown-headed Cowbird fledgling being fed by its foster parent, a male Yellow Warbler.
Brown-headed Cowbird being fed by a Yellow Warbler, Calgary, July 8, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.
The warbler is off to find more food for its demanding foster child.
Brown-headed Cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and often the other species does not recognize the difference and raises the young cowbird. For more photos of cowbirds with some other host species see these posts:
- Cowbird vs Chipping Sparrow
- Angry Birds
- Cowbird Catastrophe, which includes an explanation of cowbird behavior.
Anyone have a photo of chipping sparrows just before fledging? I had a nest in a potted cedar that had 4 eggs, one infertile, one runt hatchling and two fledged. Parents were chipping, no doubt. The young had very bushy eyebrows. Can post a pic if anyone wants. I’ve seen cowbirds in Bowness Park but never up here in Tuscany. D
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