Don't feed cowbirds, they like to lay eggs in other birds nest.

Paul

I am aware of what they do. That's why I was wondering if they should be gotten rid of.

Thanks!
Shannon

They are a protected native bird but I do destroy their eggs if I find them. The bird police have not hauled me off yet.

I don't think cowbirds are a protected species, but I don't think I can bring myself to kill one. Can you just stop feeding them and see if they move on?

Paul

All native birds are protected. House Sparrow & Starlings are non-native and therefore not protected. I don't understand why certain species are valued over others. Birds are only doing what they are designed to do, whether it be lay their eggs in other's nests, take over birdhouses or snatch songbirds for food. I like to watch all birds.
Susan

They are part of nature's grand scheme, and a native American bird. Accept them and enjoy them.

A flock of cowbirds calling sounds like a babbling brook. I like having them around.

Cowbirds (male, anyway) have a lovely gurgling song and can be quite beautiful. I try not to take sides where birds are concerned even if I personally don't agree with some of their breeding or feeding habits.

Claire

cjc45 posted just as I was preparing my post. Two votes for the song!

Claire

I enjoy watching their behavior. Females, this time of the year, actually wait in the tree shadows for females of other species to come to the feeder, then follow them back to their nests and wait for an opportune time to deposit an egg.
This behavior evolved over tens of thousands of years of following the great Southern buffalo herd and migrating with them when they started to move to the Northern prairies in the spring.
No time to stop and build a nest, so find a local resident's nest along the way.
I think it's a clever survival technique.

I also enjoy watching the behavior. I noticed when the female Red-winged Blackbirds arrived this year that one female cowbird was feeding with a female red-wing that didn't seem to mind. I thought that maybe the red-wing had raised that cowbird. This was before the cowbirds came together.

Then for a while the male and female cowbirds were flocking together apart from all the other blackbirds. Mating time I guess.

Now the female cowbirds are hanging with the female red-wings and I suspect that a lot of little cowbird eggs are going to be left on the red-wing doorsteps. I wonder if the female cowbirds will rejoin the male cowbirds once the eggs are laid, and fly off into the sunset.

I can't help but think of the cowbirds as irresponsible teenagers carousing around, getting themselves into trouble, and running away.

Claire

Nova did an interesting story on Cowbirds last year. Watch the video here

Whenever Brown-headed Cowbirds appear I take down my feeders immediately, although I doubt it affects their numbers.
They endanger many native songbirds because humans removed their historical food source-the American Bison-then cut eastern forests to allow them access to warbler nests. A single female Brown-headed Cowbird will lay 80 eggs a season in other birds' nests, and they routinely destroy nests, kill nestlings, presumably to force re-nesting and provide more victims.

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2010/mar/30/hg_master_naturalilsts_040110_90385/?features&outdoors

http://www.jstor.org/pss/4089942

However, I've read articles that even after intense trapping, the Brown-headed Cowbirds were only reduced slightly within the tiny area where the trapping occurred.

While traveling through the nature preserve, I finally encountered two pairs of brown headed cowbirds for the first time. Much to my surprise, the male looked like a smaller grackle with reverse coloring (Grackles have green heads and black / brown body, cowbirds have green body and brown heads). The female is about the same size as the male but is grayish brown. They sang rather sweetie and weren't too afraid of people. It let me get within 10 feet of them to get a closer look.

In the old days, Cowbirds travel with bison herds, eating insects that associated with the herd. Their parasitic egg laying complimented their nomadic lifestyle. They have since moved into the suburbs.

If they were parasitic, they would be considered beneficial birds since they eat a lot of insects. They travel with flocks of black birds like Ring wing and Grackles. Fortunately, even though I get a lot of blackbirds, I have only seen one cowbirds at the feeder.

Apparently, Cardinals are nearly the perfect host, being the same size and diet. Laying eggs in a house finch nest will result in the fledging's death because they need more than a all vegetarian diet. Robins regularly eject cowbird eggs.

On the downside, Cowbirds do apparently often check up on their fledging and retaliate by destroying the host's nest if the fledging or egg dies. Apparently, this is not malice but a way to force the host to build a new nest so that the cowbirds can build more eggs.

Since cowbirds travel with Red wings and grackles, I wonder if they lay eggs in the red wing and grackle's nest.

I have enjoyed watching Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees,and Red Winged Blackbirds, for 5 years...having 3 bird feeders. But this year 6-8 Cowbirds found my feeders, and just sit there and eat, and eat until all the seed is gone. I saw one even spread it's wings and walk toward another bird to chase it away. I have seen less and less of my favorite songsters. How do I get the Cowbirds to leave and find their own food? There is a field next door, but these are just lazy free-loaders.
I can't afford to keep feeding them at this rate. Any ideas?

Question: do you have blackish looking birds visiting a nest box? Are the males AND females going in and out, or was it a male sitting outside while the female went in, then departed? If the latter, then the female has parasitized a nest that perhaps a Martin *did* have in the box. Martins and others are funny and smart; once they've been parasitized, they often will build a new nest over the old one and will start over again....some birds just never catch on....out here we've been seeing an increase in the amount of White-crowned Sparrows that have been parasitized by the cowbirds.

If the former (both male and female going inside the box) then chances are, it might be starlings, not cowbirds. Do you have any photos?