Eastern Phoebe tending to a Brown-headed Cowbird
Woodcock Lake Dam, Crawford County, PA. I found this encounter both fascinating and disheartening. The sounds of the begging fledgling cowbird alerted me to a pair of adult Eastern Phoebes that were busily attending to its needs. There were no signs of any fledgling phoebes. Cowbirds parasitize the nests of other birds, often resulting in the failure to host parents to successfully raise their own young. These rather harried phoebes were heroically tending to a fledgling that was almost as big as them! Thanks for looking and any comments or feedback.
Eastern Phoebe tending to a Brown-headed Cowbird
Woodcock Lake Dam, Crawford County, PA. I found this encounter both fascinating and disheartening. The sounds of the begging fledgling cowbird alerted me to a pair of adult Eastern Phoebes that were busily attending to its needs. There were no signs of any fledgling phoebes. Cowbirds parasitize the nests of other birds, often resulting in the failure to host parents to successfully raise their own young. These rather harried phoebes were heroically tending to a fledgling that was almost as big as them! Thanks for looking and any comments or feedback.