Thank you for bringing this to my atttention. I had no idea. I
will delete it from my stories about cowbirds! So my position now is:
cowbirds may not be beneficial but they aren't always a death sentence. In
any case, this was the only example that I am aware of that suggested that
cowbirds are beneficial and it was one, remote (intricate and lovely). The
Brown-headed Cowbird has not been shown to be beneficial to host young at all.


At 12:04 28/8/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Dear Friends,
>While the reported studies concerning cowbird parasitism advantages may
>seem logical and neat, please be aware that the supporting data may have
>been "cooked." Yes, the validity of the Nature article is questionable.
>Please read the commentary below from the Univ of Maine Institute for
>Field Ornithology. BTW, Jon D. is Jon Dunn, one of the chief consultants
>for the Nat Geo Soc field guide.
>
(snip)
Deb Beutler
Department of Zoology
Washington State Univerisity
Pullman, Whitman Co., WA
dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu