[va-bird] Re: Cowbirds and sparrows
- From: "Adam Phelps" <PhelpsA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 12:15:59 -0400
I saw brown-headed cowbirds foraging with starlings on a lawn here in =
Richmond yesterday, and it struck me as odd, not just that they were =
foraging w/ the starlings, but that they were in Richmond proper at all.
It's too bad in a way that our cuckoos are rarely parasitic; think of the =
irony if native cuckoos started parasitizing starlings and house =
sparrows.=20
Adam Phelps
Richmond
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
<Birdconsv@xxxxxxx> 08/17/04 12:00PM >>>
Over the past couple of weeks while walking in my neighborhood in =
Arlington,=20
I have on several occasions seen 1 or 2 cowbirds (presumably Brown-headed)=
=20
with flocks of House Sparrows feeding on the ground. When the sparrows =
move, the=20
cowbirds move with them. I had first noticed a cowbird with sparrows =
only=20
last summer. I suspect that these are hatching-year birds, but haven't =
had a=20
really good look at them. I am assuming that these are birds that were =
raised by=20
House Sparrows and have imprinted on them, but am surprised that I had =
not=20
seen that before in 50 years of birding. Maybe I just missed it, or maybe =
its a=20
new phenomenon. Does anyone know? So far, I haven't seen any young =
cuckoos=20
with them, but will keep watching.
Dave Davis
Arlington
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