Great-spotted Woodpecker and Parekeet (1 Viewer)

Hi all,

I was chatting to someone this weekend who witnessed some odd bird behaviour. She has watched Great-spotted Woodpeckers in her garden feeding their young from the bird feeder. But for a very short period, she observed the adult Woodpecker feeding a young Ring-necked Parakeet by taking food from the bird feeder. The parakeet was not in a nest, and must have already fledged from somewhere...

The only theory I have been able to come up with is that a Parakeet laid and egg or eggs in the Woodpecker nest then left (Cuckoo style) but I have not heard of this before.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,

Andy M

A common phenomena with wildfowl is laying of some eggs in other species nests (referred to as egg dumping). This is believed to be a security measure against predation of their own nests and ensures at least some survival from a clutch.

It is likely perhaps that this also leads to the high levels of hybridization in ducks as when the chicks hatch they will become imprinted on the host parent and hence choose a mate from that species.

On this thought, does anyone know if this happens with cuckoos? Ie do the offspring imprint and then use the same host species as the nest they were hatched in? I have read somewhere that female cuckoos always use the same host species but not sue if this is correct