...What's that you're building?...A nest?

I've been waiting to get a good shot of one of these birds and today was the day. They've started showing up at my feeders in the last week - six or so of them. This is a brown-headed cowbird (female) (molothrus ater) and she is a very interesting bird. She exemplifies the mysteries of nature to me - she's a parasitic nester. Which means that the cowbirds never build their own nests, or raise their own young. They deposit a single egg (but up to 36 in a summer) in the nest of other, usually smaller, birds. After she deposits the egg, she goes off in search of another nest, lays another egg, and so it goes. Neither cowbird has any involvement with hatching or raising the young. Cowbirds are considered promiscuous birds, not forming any sort of pair bonds.

What is curious, and a bit icky, is that the cowbird will usually always lay eggs in the nest of a smaller bird. Here is what Cornell Ornithology has to say:

"Cowbirds lay eggs in a great variety of nests, including Red-winged Blackbird nests in marshes, dome-shaped Ovenbird nests on the forest floor, cup nests in shrubs and treetops, and even occasionally in nests in tree cavities. Over 140 host species of the Brown-headed Cowbird have been described, from birds as small as kinglets to as large as meadowlarks. Common hosts include the Yellow Warbler, Song and Chipping sparrows, Red-eyed Vireo, Eastern and Spotted towhees, and Red-winged Blackbird."

So when this female perched on my deck and sat watching other birds flit about, I had to wonder ... is she watching for nests? The male cowbird, is a very handsome bird, irradescent black with a glossy brown head.

She is best viewed parasitically large!

Some would try to scare these birds away, but this is all part of nature, isn't it? They have to survive too. And, they are beautiful little creatures in their own way...

Feeling a bit blue today. This week marks two years since the death of my dear friend Lynn, who lost her five-year battle with cervical cancer in 2010. She was a wonderful, witty woman, and I miss her still. She loved a good gin and tonic, so if you're of a mind to, raise your next g and t to Lynn. I know she'll appreciate it!

Happy hump-day...