I've heard several accounts of how a Cuckoo will lay its egg in another species' nest, and how the Cuckoo chick will overtake the nest and dominate the parents, in their effort to feed the chick. Well on this day, I had an opportunity to see this first-hand. While hiking down the Falls Park river trail on a very hot July day, I could hear a plaintive call coming from a low tree up ahead. There on a branch was a young Yellow-billed Cuckoo, calling for more food. Its mother was a Yellow warbler; this tiny little bird flew back and forth with insects for her enormous chick, never getting a rest and never satiating its appetite.
I would not be surprised if the Warbler succumbed to exhaustion and the heat of that week.
My checklist:
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (chick), Yellow Warbler (fem); Killdeer, Ring-billed Gull, American Crow,
Tree Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, Gray Catbird, American Redstart, Song Sparrow, Common Grackle, American Goldfinch.
I would not be surprised if the Warbler succumbed to exhaustion and the heat of that week.
My checklist:
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (chick), Yellow Warbler (fem); Killdeer, Ring-billed Gull, American Crow,
Tree Swallow, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, Gray Catbird, American Redstart, Song Sparrow, Common Grackle, American Goldfinch.
