FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] RPT: Ovenbird/Cowbird

["scott freidhof" <scottf@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

June 25, 2004:  I was in Letcher County last Friday near Lilley Cornett
Woods assisting with the pollination of an American chestnut tree.  I
heard a juvenile bird making a ruckus.  While looking in that direction,
a pair of birds flew out of the thick understory and landed on an
exposed branch.  With a mix of excitement and disbelief, I watched an
ovenbird feed a cowbird.  The ovenbird flew off and the cowbird followed
begging for food all the way.  My camera and binoculars were a quarter
of a mile away in the truck.  I almost went back to get the camera in
the hopes of finding them again.  My first reaction was negative towards
cowbirds after witnessing parasitism with my own eyes.  But I calmed
down when I reminded myself that ovenbirds are as common as dirt and
cowbirds are a natural part of the North American continent, even if
their invasion of the eastern forest is relatively recent, historically.
Maybe I'll have my camera with me next time.
 

Scott Freidhof

scottf@xxxxxxxxxxxx



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