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whay did i see a blackbird feeding a baby sparrow?

16 years ago

Yesterday in town i saw a male blackbird feeding and escorting a baby sparrow. I know that sounds weird, but i hung around a bit and saw the blackbird feed the baby sparrow twice with some crumbs, saw the blackbird calling to the sparrow how they call to their own fledgings, the sparrow following and the blackbird waiting for it. Am i going mad, or is this more common than it seems?

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Comments (11)

lisa11310
16 years ago
I am willing to bet that it was a baby Cowbird. They look very similar to some Sparrows. Cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds nests so the blackbird incubated and is raising the baby as it's own.
cjc45
16 years ago
What kind of blackbird?
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That's curious. I wonder why the cowbirds might prefer the chipping sparrow nests? I can't remember what birds I used to see with the baby cowbirds. I did hear one crying the other day........It's a recognizable cry........a cowbird baby yelling for food. Isn't it interesting that the mother birds don't seem to discriminate between the babies? Do you think notice a difference??
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starlinka
16 years ago
Maybe it was a black adult starling and a gray starling fledgling?
scotti007
Original Author
16 years ago
well, it was deffinately a blackbird and the little bird resembled a baby house sparrow exactly. the little bird was brown, nothing like a starling it was way too small and the blackbird was diffinately a blackbird!! i knw what starlings look like- we have flocks of them quite often at my house!! i have blackbirds and sparrows in my garden at home to, and the ones in town looked the same. im not sure what type of blackbird, it was a normal garden one?! is there such thing as a cowbird in england, because iv never heard of one?
feather_z9_ncacoast
16 years ago
In the UK....well, I would wonder then if you saw an adult European Blackbird feeding the more mottled, and rufous-colored youngster, instead?
scotti007
Original Author
16 years ago
might be that, the baby bird was so small though and the normal blackbird fledglings i have seen are usually the same size or almost bigger than the adult. This fledgling was absolutely tiny! maybe i mistook the bird, but it really did resemble a sparrow!
feather_z9_ncacoast
16 years ago
It is possible the angle you saw it from was simply throwing you off a bit....happens to me all the time ;)
scotti007
Original Author
16 years ago
probably tbh!! tis a mystery!!ty 4 ur help anyways guys :)
feather_z9_ncacoast
16 years ago
guys. Hmmm. OK, you're welcome.... ;)
annzgw
16 years ago
Isn't it also possible that a sparrow egg ended up in the blackbird's nest or that the blackbird took a hunger baby under its wing (sorry for the pun!).

I used to raise birds and it was not uncommon for one species to take over feeding babies of another species that were hungry and begging.

Since there are cases of escaped parakeets being accepted into flocks of sparrows I think what you saw is possible......uncommon, but possible.
scotti007
Original Author
16 years ago
so im not going mad then! it was just weird; kinda sweet though :)
(guys as in the people who helped me lol)

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