Swede’s Photographs on Nostr: Young Forager This is a juvenile Brown‑headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). I usually ...

Young Forager

This is a juvenile Brown‑headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). I usually start seeing them in late spring, when fledglings of all kinds are out exploring the world. Every now and then I’ll even spot one being fed by its surrogate parent. If you don’t know, Brown‑headed Cowbirds are brood parasites — they lay their eggs in the nests of other species, who often end up raising the cowbird chick as their own.

Why do they do this? That’s a good question, and I don’t think anyone knows the exact moment it began. But many scientists believe their ancestors followed the massive bison herds across the Great Plains. Because the birds had to stay on the move with the herds, they couldn’t stick around long enough to build a nest and raise young, so….