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Laura Finazzo
Orono, MN, USA
As many of us bird lovers know, Cowbirds don’t raise their own babies. They lay their own eggs, and that is the end of their family responsibilities. The surrogate birds never know the difference. As you can see, the cowbirds is much larger than the Chipping Sparrow, and the cowbird baby requires a lot of food, and peeps constantly, begging and flapping her wings. Night time must be such a relief!
Fun
Species: Chipping Sparrow
We have a feeder in our backyard that attracts a lot of chipping sparrows on the ground at the base of the feeder. I’ve been surprised to see one, daily feeding a young bird much larger than itself. Google brought me here, and it most definitely looks like a young cowbird. I’m located in Bowmanville, Ontario, about an hour east of Toronto.
I just witnessed the same thing in Toronto. I googled the different species and it brought me here.
August 1, 2023
Yesterday, I was amazed to witness the same scene in the Rock Garden at Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington.
Well. Same as everyone else. Me seeing a chipping sparrow caring for a baby female cowbird peaked my interest and led me here. (From Bear, Delaware)
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