Two Part Identification and Behavior Question (1 Viewer)

E

ewalsh

Member

• Aug 9, 2018

• #1

Hi, I'm new here and to birding. I've been feeding for about 3 years but just really started watching and taking photos since this spring so there is a lot I just don't know.

The first part of my question is if this grey bird is a female brown headed cowbird? And the second has to do with what happens in these pictures with a male cardinal.

These are from today, 8/8 in the morning and I was in the kitchen when I saw this bird and wanted a picture but then I saw the cardinal and I thought for a minute they were going to fight over the home made bird bath on my patio. But then it turned into a behavior that I've seen with both parent birds and their offspring but also between birds that are mates, where the male feeds the female? But these are two different types of birds, does that happen? Or am I getting this all wrong?

 

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F

fugl

Well-known member

• Aug 9, 2018

• #2

Cardinal feeding a cowbird fledgling. Cowbirds are nest parasites laying their eggs in the nests of other species for the latter to hatch and rear.

 

E

ewalsh

Member

• Aug 9, 2018

• #3

Thanks so much that makes sense then.

 

Fraulein ash

Woodpecker stalker

• Aug 9, 2018

• #4

I mean, you hear about that stuff all day long, but you rarely get to actually SEE it!! Great photos!!

It kind of makes me sad for the parents... I don't see how they can get confused, does the female FORGET that she hasn't laid any eggs? If birds are so smart, SURELY they remember whether or not they laid some eggs?? Like if I came home and there was a random baby in my house, I would definitely know that wasn't my baby. I can maybe see where the males would get confused, but how you would confuse the female is beyond me!

 

M

mark clements

New member

• Aug 9, 2018

• #5

Hi Ewalsh
Great capture, seen it once with Cuckoo and Dunnock in the UK, but never to photograph.

@ Fraulein Ash
Usually there are eggs or young in a nest that get turfed out by the hatched nest parasite. That way the parents, and its often both that feed, have only one egg that hatched, or young that survived, depending on timing... and if its in their nest it must be their baby to a bird anyhow.

Harry

 

E

ewalsh

Member

• Aug 10, 2018

• #6

Thanks

Thanks everyone for the help and the feedback.

While they aren't the best pictures ever, I love that I captured it and all before coffee. I am so glad I found a place where I can ask questions when I have them. And I am sure that I'll have them.

 

delia todd

If I said the wrong thing it was a Senior Moment

Staff member

Opus Editor

Supporter

• Aug 10, 2018

• #7

Hi ewalsh and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news. Keep observing and reporting what you see, especially when it seems 'odd'; it's the way we all learn! Like Harry, I've only seen this behaviour once, and that was between a pair of Meadow Pipits and a Cuckoo. Wonderful to watch but, like him, no picture! It was years ago and didn't possess a camera then.

 

E

ewalsh

Member

• Aug 10, 2018

• #8

Thanks Delia Todd! I saw my first ever Indigo Bunting this spring and had no idea what it was. That's when I pulled the camera out to get a picture and I fell in love with getting the pictures too. Partially because I can see the birds more closely, see behaviors you normally couldn't see, just like this picture, I would have never seen this or have been able to save it.

Thanks to everyone for making me feel at home.

 

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delia todd

If I said the wrong thing it was a Senior Moment

Staff member

Opus Editor

Supporter

• Aug 10, 2018

• #9

Cheers.

Don't forget we have a Gallery too, where your pictures would be very welcome.

 

KC Foggin

Very, very long time member

Supporter

• Aug 11, 2018

• #10

Cardinals seem to be the most popular with Cowbirds