** Reply to note from Deb Beutler <dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu> on Fri, 31 Jul 1998
18:34:28 -0700 (PDT)

> On several occasions this summer, I have observed one or two
> Brown-headed Cowbirds perched on the backs and rumps of horses that were
> feeding in a pasture. These observations occurred in Stevens, Pend Oreille,
> Spokane and Whitman counties in Washington.
> Has anyone else observed cowbirds perched on the backs of animals?

So many times that the old cowbird-on-livestock memory buffer is full!

> I would be very interested in any records of this.

Whoo, boy. Well, I have seen them on both cows and horses in spring, summer,
fall and winter in Prince George and the Vancouver, BC areas.

> In addition, if you have
> horse or cows near you house, keep an eye out for this behavior. In
> particular, I want to know what they are doing. Every time I have seen
> cowbirds on horseback, it has been along busy highways and interstates where
> pulling off to watch the birds is not an option. I am really curious to
> know if they are just perched there or are they picking off insects (like
> the magpie post earlier). I have not seen a cowbird perch on a cow (they
> seem to prefer horses in northeastern Washington). I have not seen this
> behavior mentioned in the scientific literature (and I have spent a lot of
> time reading about cowbirds).<snip>

Methinks you should take a breather from reading and hang around some stock
farms :-)

- Jack



==========================
Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jbowling at direct.ca