Hi Tweets,

Last Friday we found an Orange-crowned Warbler feeding a much larger young cowbird. Lurking not far away was a female Brown-headed Cowbird. I've wondered about the mechanism that makes young cowbirds realize that they're not warblers or vireos, but cowbirds instead. Perhaps the adult cowbird calling to the youngster at the right time sends the critical message that brings the young cowbird to the company of its fellow cowbirds.

Paul Webster
Seattle
paul.websterATcomcast.net
----- Original Message -----
From: Kristi Hein
To: Tweeters List
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 11:02 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Wilson's Warbler feeding Cowbird chick


Hello Tweeters,

Today I heard a persistent, insistent sound of a fledgling demanding to be fed. It drew nearer, and proved to be a big, beefy Brown-headed Cowbird chick, towering over a Wilson's "parent" that was run ragged, trying to find enough stuff to stuff into its "offspring."

We've seen the occasional DE Junco feeding a cowbird chick, but this was the first warbler I've seen. The Birder's Handbook calls the Wilson's an "uncommon cowbird host." Makes me ponder the habitat loss and narrowing of forest tracts in Anacortes in recent years.

It was our first yard sighting of a Wilson's this year, anyway.

Good birding,

Kristi Hein
Anacortes
khc
-at-
picturesandwords.com