The cardinal obliged for a while, and when it flew off, the young bird went about business calmly. This happened repeatedly. We know that cowbirds, having no home of their own, lay eggs in other birds' nests and we've seen pictures of tiny parents feeding huge ravening youngsters in the nest, but never seen the foster parent's behavior. The aim is to find out why many of these species are common in some areas while declining in others, and perhaps whether the Brown-headed Cowbird is affecting those populations. The results of the study will be used to develop the North American Bird Conservation Plan.
Participants select a forest patch and record data on characteristics of the site.
The dogs were crashing through the undergrowth. I like dogs, but they shouldn't be loose there. Too many ground and low nesters can be harmed by the dogs. Unfortunately when I pointed this out to the folks they ignored me. Sharon thinks it's ignorance on their part, but I'm not so sure.