In the patio area, the bluebirds and robins are back to their old nesting area. At the feeder, I have my regulars: cardinals, chipping sparrows, tufted titmouse, mourning dove, occasional gold finch and purple finch, occasional blue jay, occasional purple grackle . But today a pair of cowbirds showed up. Well that is bad news for my regular bird population I understand. These look like the ones on the left side of this Wikipedia page, not the right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowbird They are not a loved bird. But I am going to have to change my opinion, I guess. So they were coming to the feeder and I was trying to scare them off. After several times, the male was getting used to me and wouldn't fly away for my banging on the window near him. So I opened the front door and went out to scare him off, clapping my hands. Reluctantly he flew to the dogwood tree and sat on the branch eying me. Then the cocky fellow threw back his head and began to sing to me. I couldn't believe it so I started to talk to him. He listened hopped on the branch closer to me and sang several more times hopping closer to me each time. "You can't resist me. I am such a nice fellow. I really am, I am!" (sing, sing, sing) It was really amazing. I sat on the steps and talked to him. He acts like people have talked to him before and people are things he likes. He flew towards me and came to about 5 feet from me on the ground at the foot of the feeder. He is a brown headed cowbird and such a character. What an unusual behavior! Very effective in making friends! Now, if I find cowbird eggs in the robin and bluebird nests, what should I do? Do I let the cowbird survive and the robins and bluebirds die? Or do I take the cowbird egg out so it won't hatch? Tomorrow I will get up on a ladder and look in all the nests that I can easily get to. I am sure I have mocking bird, cat bird and titmouse nests around the end of the house. That male cowbird was so amazing just sitting there on the branch hopping towards me and singing his heart out to me in an incredibly winsome manner. Surely someone somewhere has befriended this little fellow. If it was you, know he is a courageous and clever fellow and will do well in the world. And that is today's epistle. Bonnie Mattheus Hamilton County Ooltewah, TN -- *Bonnie Mattheus, R.N., B.S.N., M.S.C.C., President *PO Box 1038, Collegedale, TN 37315 Phone 423-238-7467 http://www.bonherbals.com "Home of *Immune Ammunition*," a five-herb blend to fight bacteria, virus and fungus. =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA -------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Chris O'Bryan Clarksville, TN __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ MAP RESOURCES Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________