I wrote:
> I read
>somewhere that female cowbirds tend to parasitize
>the nest of the same species that raised them, which
>would tend to cut down on cases where the foster
>parents aren't going to be bringing proper nutrition.
>
Deb Beutler responded:

> This is not true for cowbirds. Cowbirds do not seem to prefer to
>parasitize the same species that raised them. There are several lines of
>evidence suggesting cowbirds are not very selective<

Thanks for the fascinating info on brood parasitism, Deb. I'm
on the hunt for that "read somewhere" reference, since I'm pretty
sure it wasn't about cuckoos. Maybe it concerned a different
species of cowbird. Anyway, your evidence is completely
convincing that our familiar cowbirds don't specialize.

Chris Maack
Anchorage, AK
CMaack at compuserve.com