Brown-headed Cowbird baby

This bird was seen on 17 June 2017, when five of us went east of the city for the day, to visit our friend, Shirley, at her seasonal trailer. This young Brown-headed Cowbird was perched on a low branch in a tree with several young Brewer's Backbirds. Cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds' nests, so this young Cowbird was probably being raised by a pair of Brewer's Blackbirds.

An amazing short video from a videocam by Cornell, showing a female Brown-headed Cowbird actually laying an egg in a Cardinal's nest and removing one of the Cardinal's eggs.

youtu.be/k3vAPMUW4CA

"The Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a brood parasite, meaning that it lays its eggs in nests of other species. A female cowbird quietly searches for female birds of other species that are actively laying eggs. Once she has found a suitable host, the cowbird will sneak onto the resident bird’s nest when it is away, usually damage or remove one (or more) egg, and replace that egg with one (or more) of her own. The foster parents then unknowingly raise the young cowbirds, usually at the expense of their own offspring. Cowbird eggs require a shorter incubation period than most other songbirds and thus usually hatch first. Cowbird nestlings also grow large very quickly. These advantages allow them to command the most food from their foster parents, usually resulting in reduced nesting success of the host species." From Cornell's Nest Watch.

nestwatch.org/learn/general-bird-nest-info/brown-headed-c...

Most of our birding was done at and near Shirley's trailer site, including seeing a wonderful owl family, two Killdeer and their nests, a Baltimore Oriole, and (finally!) a pair of Brown Thrashers. I had hoped for several years to see one of these birds, so it was a real treat to see a 'lifer'. It was far away and so high up, but I managed to get a couple of shots just for the record.

As we were walking around the grounds, two ladies stopped us and showed us some baby birds that they had had to remove from the engine of their vehicle. They wondered if we knew what kind of birds they were, but we were unable to help. I posted a photo of them a couple of days ago, just in case someone can ID them. The ladies had a bird house that they were going to put the babies into, hoping that the parents would hear them calling and be able to continue feeding them.

Thank you so much, Shirley, for inviting us all out to visit you while you were there for the weekend! It was such a pleasure to see some of "your" birds that you enjoy so much. Such a great variety of species! Wow, what a lunch we had, sitting at a table under the Tree Swallow tree, with a very vocal American Robin just a few feet away. How DO birds manage to sing non-stop?! Hot chili made by Shirley, and a whole array of delicious salads and desserts left me feeling full till the early evening.

Many thanks, Anne B, for picking up three of us and for driving us east across the prairies. Hugely appreciated!