Lots of people hate me
I'm still a protected species! I'm a native bird, so you can't destroy my eggs. Besides, I keep an eye on them, so I might wreak vengeance on the birdies whose nest I laid them in by ruining their next batch of eggs...not knowing that humans tried to intervene.
So what good are cowbirds? Well, for one thing, they pick parasites off of cattle. Another is that they have a beautiful song, far prettier than the red-winged and Brewer's blackbirds they are related to. Their courting antics are hilarious to watch. And they travel in groups with other icterids, so they reduce the chance of other birds being predated upon just by adding their numbers to flocks of birds.
Lots of people hate me
I'm still a protected species! I'm a native bird, so you can't destroy my eggs. Besides, I keep an eye on them, so I might wreak vengeance on the birdies whose nest I laid them in by ruining their next batch of eggs...not knowing that humans tried to intervene.
So what good are cowbirds? Well, for one thing, they pick parasites off of cattle. Another is that they have a beautiful song, far prettier than the red-winged and Brewer's blackbirds they are related to. Their courting antics are hilarious to watch. And they travel in groups with other icterids, so they reduce the chance of other birds being predated upon just by adding their numbers to flocks of birds.