Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowbirds

Recently, a friend sent a photo of a Dark-eyed Junco feeding a much larger chick.  An educated guess would be that the bird being fed was a Brown-headed Cowbird, and indeed, it was.   

A local photographer, Beth Hamel, had her amazing image of a Wilson's Warbler feeding a Brown-headed Cowbird published in the National Audubon Magazine. The February 25, 2016 article by Matt Soniak,  "How Does a Cowbird Learn To Be a Cowbird?" delves into the research of these brood parasites to study how they do grow up to be Cowbirds. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researcher Matthew Louder attached radio transmitters to learn what happens to the adults and juveniles, to learn that the youngsters made nighttime visits to their parents. Seems that humans and birds have some things in common - the teenagers are night owls!

Wilson's Warbler feeding Brown-headed Cowbird chick by Beth Hamel.