Subject: [Tweeters]- A Song Sparrow and an adopted fledgling
Date: Jul 2 21:03:16 2007
From: Dawn Bailey - dawnsdog at rainierconnect.com


Being female I can admire the female cowbird. Lay a few eggs in another's home and take the summer off. Works for me!


Dawn Bailey
Eatonville, WA
dawnsdog at rainierconnect.com


"The worlds not changed.....there's just less in it"
Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott
----- Original Message -----
From: Kevin Mack
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 8:03 PM
Subject: [Tweeters]- A Song Sparrow and an adopted fledgling


Hi tweets,



While walking at Pine Ridge Park in Edmonds this afternoon, my wife and I heard the energetic chirpings of a fledgling bird looking for a meal. We followed the sound to the edge of the larger of the two ponds in the park and we spotted a fledgling cowbird. As the cowbird continued to beg, we watched and waited to see who the young bird's adoptive parents were. After a moment or two, a Song Sparrow appeared with a mouthful of small insects and shoved them into the mouth of the now even more frantic cowbird. Although they were in the shadows, I managed to get a flash photo of the two just as the sparrow delivered the meal. It can be found in the "Passerines I" gallery on my web site here: http://www.goatislandimages.com/photogalleries.htm





This is our second encounter with a fledgling cowbird in two weeks. The last one was along the Edmonds waterfront, and he/she was being fed by a White-crowned Sparrow. No matter your opinion of the species, you have to admit the cowbird has a pretty fascinating reproductive strategy.



Kevin Mack

Edmonds, WA

www.goatislandimages.com



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