Over the past couple of weeks while walking in my neighborhood in Arlington,
I have on several occasions seen 1 or 2 cowbirds (presumably Brown-headed)
with flocks of House Sparrows feeding on the ground. When the sparrows move,
the
cowbirds move with them. I had first noticed a cowbird with sparrows only
last summer. I suspect that these are hatching-year birds, but haven't had a
really good look at them. I am assuming that these are birds that were raised
by
House Sparrows and have imprinted on them, but am surprised that I had not
seen that before in 50 years of birding. Maybe I just missed it, or maybe its
a
new phenomenon. Does anyone know? So far, I haven't seen any young cuckoos
with them, but will keep watching.
Dave Davis
Arlington
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