Saturday, June 14, 2014

Daddy Daycare



1/50 sec. f/9 ISO 2000

1/60 sec. f/6.3 ISO 6400

The male cardinal was feeding this juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird. Female cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, thereby getting out of having to raise their own young.

Linking to Saturday's Critters and The Bird D'Pot

28 comments:

Roan said...

I knew the Cowbirds laid eggs in other nests, but didn't know the birds actually adopted the young.

Andy said...

Interest adoption. This is Father's Day weekend.

Montanagirl said...

Mr. Mom! Yup, they do that. My neighbor had a baby Cowbird egg in a Yellow Warbler's nest a few years ago.

Jenn Jilks said...

I love it! A lot of birds do this. Nice to see!
(ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!

Debbie said...

see, those cowbirds are smarter then i thought ;)

i actually did not know that. great shots brian and a very cool title ;)

TexWisGirl said...

a sweet dad he is...

21 Wits said...

He's sweet and proud!

Pamela Gordon said...

Now that is interesting. I've heard of this but not seen it. Great photos for Father's Day. :)

Jenny said...

Now that's one responsible bird. In Holland we have the Coo Coo"s that do the same. Their birds are so big, though, they push their adopted siblings out of the nest as they grow by using up all the space.

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

What a great dad!

Unknown said...

Awesome shots! He's a good dad.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful pictures again .

Amy Burzese said...

Sounds too much like society, doesn't it?

eileeninmd said...

Great shots, Brian! The cowbirds are lazy parents.. Thank you for linking up with my critter party. Have a happy weekend!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

I knew that, but never thought about other birds raising these orphan cowbirds. How strange!

Anonymous said...

What a great post for Father's Day!
I'm always sad to see a tiny little Song Sparrow struggling to feed those big Cowbird babies.

Betsy Brock said...

Those cow birds are something else, aren't they? Geesh! It's really sad when you see a tiny finch parent feeding this giant baby. They can't keep up or feed their own little ones with that big baby hogging all their food and time. Great photos!

Stephanie said...

Great post and images!

Saun said...

Perfect for Father's Day ! Great shots!

Kerri Farley said...

Excellent Captures!!!

Anni said...

Nature is just so amazing...some times things like this just boggle the mind to us humans. We could learn from them!!!

Love the 2nd image. They're all excellent...but the 2nd one...has my vote for photo of the week!

Thanks for linking up this weekend at the Bird D'Pot!! All the birders appreciate your participation.

A Colorful World said...

Awww...so sweet. Just hate it's the cowbird chick and not his own. :-)

Andee said...

You have much nicer cardinals than I do! How fun to watch them interact. Again as always I love that you share your camera settings!

Ela said...

He is a good dad !
Such amazing photos !!

Gail Dixon said...

What a big-hearted dad he is. I think it's deplorable that cowbirds do this, but the other birds seem to go with the flow.

Pia said...

What a wonderful an interesting post. Thanks for sharing!

TheChieftess said...

Sounds a lot like life today!!!

Ida said...

How sweet. That is really interesting about the female cowbird. Thank goodness the cardinal stepped up and helped out.