Well, they have to live too. Not happy seeing a cardinal feeding one, like I did HERE, but such is the nature of things.

tj

I don't hate cowbirds like many people seem to. I watched a PBS special on them and learned that they once followed the buffaloes, eating many of the insects that the herds stirred up, and since the herds were always moving, they had to leave their eggs behind for others to raise. I also learned that they are particular as to where and what kind of nest they want to leave their eggs in. Nature has made them who they are and I'm okay with that. Maybe some day they will decide to settle down, since there aren't really herds of anything anymore. :(

Zach, you are so right. Thank you for that comment.

I do agree with the above.

The case that I do not, however, agree with that is with sparrows. Of course it's not their fault we brought them here but it wasn't exactly nature's doing either. It's unnatural and they do become a nuisance, so I do have a problem with them. They can't help it but that doesn't mean I easily put up with them.

I readily welcome the spring tide of robins, blackbirds, cowbirds, and (argh! Forgot what they're called!!!). Sparrows, not so much.

kiliandwarrior.....we have problems with all sorts of invasive plants.......especially bush honeysuckle. We have 35 acres almost totally filled with it. At least it provides habitat for wildlife. But as far as invasive plants, birds, etc.......the horse is waaaay out of the barn. Our world has become so small, and people/plants/animals/bacteria, viruses, etc. can so easily be transported from continent to continent that there's no stopping the tide now. The things that seem to do so well, and overrun our native stuff, seem to come from areas with the same temperature zone, but we don't have the same checks and balances in nature here to deal with them. My hope is that everything will eventually moderate.....but that may take millenniums. Man has definitely seemed to throw a wrench into the balance of nature. Makes me very sad.

Very true. Yes, it's very unfortunate

I tried to get a decent picture of the cowbirds hanging out with the bison the other day, but they were too far away. It was cool to watch though. Boy those guys are bold, I thought they might wind up a little "flatter" underneath the hooves of a 1500 lb animal a couple times.

I think where we get hung up is the fact many of us are inclined to appreciate more "attractive" bird species than cowbirds, and find their behavior troublesome when they do something we consider "harmful" to a species we prefer. However, while cowbirds may be "parasitic" in nature, they, and the species they coexist with, are specifically designed to be able to work together in the resource tug-of-war that is nature.

In the end, it is important to remember that cowbirds have what amounts to a rather insignificant effect on the populations of other birds. That effect is even more diminished when compared to the catastrophic effects of habitat degradation and loss. Far more birds have perished as a result of human activity than cowbirds.

Excellent post, Zach!

"The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, 'what good is it?' If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not."

The giant upon who's shoulders we stand, Aldo Leopold, put it far better than I ever could.

It is remarkable to me that over 70 years since A Sand County Almanac was published we as a society have still yet to catch up with Leopold's understanding of conservation and ecology and come to terms with the stark, yet honest, reality he presents. I have often argued it ought to be required reading in our public schools...

I know this is getting a bit off-topic, but I'm baffled that "man" seems to be the most destructive animal of all. We seem to want to destroy our own life-support system. I don't think any other species does that. Zach....thanks for reminding me to read some of Leopold's writings. (Then again, they might just make me sadder.) :( There has been so much "growth and development" coming my area, it's overwhelming. So much loss of all kinds of habitat. It reminds me of The Bodysnatchers. I guess all we can do is try to keep that area around us in the most natural state possible.....which usually means keeping our hands off it and letting it be.

I have not often read Leopold and came away feeling uplifted, particularly when I look around and see the direction we are headed in the realm of things "natural, wild, and free." Working in the conservation field is all the more defeating.

I have come to learn that people are happy to want to preserve only a very limited amount of land. They are fine with these "museums" of the natural world that offer little in the way of ecological function. Furthermore if they can't utilize the space in whatever recreational fashion they please, they have no interest in it. The outdoors is nothing more than our personal playground, be damned the idea that it be protected for it's own sake. And so help us if it were to come at the cost of not building a new housing tract or installing a fancy shopping district or preventing resources extraction. We sseem to see no value in what the land can offer beyond entertainment and commodity.

I apologize for the soap box, but this is a topic that really gets to me. Plus I just learned we are slated for a winter storm later this week and I was really hoping to be done with the cold and snow by now ;).

I particularly go bezerk when well-meaning people catch birds to band them. No soapbox here, but just imagine the terror that those birds go through before being released by the almighty human. I saw a sloth being caught and banded on a TV nature program a couple of weeks ago and I nearly passed out before the great human released it. Same stuff, different day.

Agreed, Pat!

Pat, I would have to disagree that banding birds serves no purpose other than to stress the animals, which, of course it does.

However, being able to track animals gives us a wealth of knowledge that betters our ability to help protect them.

We have learned through electronic tracking that burrowing owls exibit significant nesting site fidelity. From that we can get information on how we should be managing individual prairie dog towns and the environmental impacts of certain developments.

Nasal tagging of cinnamon teal in the San Luis Valley (and important breeding site for these birds) has given us information on their migration patterns. For a long time we believed that their migration was primarily a north-south routine but a great many of breeding teal in Southern Colorado were showing up in California wetlands, proving that it is as much of an east-west event as well. I have some links to this stuff stashed away in an e-mail somewhere if you're interested.

In the end, its not simply that we are the almighty human that is trying to stress out animals for no good reason, it serves to further our knowledge of their habits and behavior so we can have a more effective conservation plan for them. While it does stress the animals, they recover from the ordeal and I believe that the benefit for entire species far outweighs the temporary discomfort of the individual animal.

Zach, I simply do not agree. A more effective conservation plan would be to just leave them alone. Knowledge of their habits and behavior should not be important to us in the scheme of things.

The amount of disturbance to habitat, ecosystems, and species that is caused by humans means that without some kind of active conservation in place to mitigate the effects would be disastrous. Simply "leaving them be" would result in an even more cataclysmic extinction than what we are already facing.

As nice of an idea as it is, humans are a far cry from the point where we are coexisting within nature. Until that happens, it will take the hard work and dedication of biologists, conservationists, and concerned citizens to ensure that the natural world is preserved as best as possible for the future.

I've been feeding the birds for years and I'm not a huge fan of the blackbird club (grackles, starlings, red-wing, and cowbirds). I tolerate them though (mostly because I have no other choice if I want to continue feeding the birds).

Just the other day I noticed a couple of male cowbirds for first time in several months. Now I'm seeing starlings feed the female cowbirds. Cowbirds are native so I don't dislike them as much as starlings, and I remind myself they all have to eat. I did see a starling this morning with only one leg. He was hoping around and I actually felt sorry for him. Maybe the blackbird club is growing on me.

I agree that people who think there are "good" birds, and "bad" birds should re-think. I love crows, ravens, and bluejays, as well as all other birds. Crows nest in our next door neighbor's huge tall redwood trees. Once a fledgling crow came and sat on our driveway. I walked over to look at it, and it ran under the ivy. When I went out for a walk 5 minutes later, BOTH parents followed me for 4 blocks, screaming about how I tried to eat their baby! Bluejays nest in a giant old barberry bush on our property - last year I heard a baby bird screeching, and peeked in, and it was a baby bluejay, out of the nest but nearby, screeching for its parent to feed it (who did). Once a huge raven came and took a bath in our standing bird bath. It was so fun to watch. The corvids are so so smart - I have a book about them. Our street has 100 year old Black Walnut street trees. Yes, the crows do take the walnuts and put them on the road for the cars to run over.

Jackie

Well, I was finally able to capture some photos of the cowbirds hanging out with the bison. Not great, they are hard to get when they are down in the grass and I'm up in a truck, plus they tend to stay out with the bison that are more in the middle of field rather than the ones that come up closer to the road (I guess there is better bugs out there).

jacqueline........great stories!

Zach.......beautiful pictures!! You are so lucky to do what you do! Thanks for sharing those pics!

I love the cowbirds and bison pics, Zach! The image of cowbirds on the bison's back makes me wonder if the cowbirds eat ticks that infest the animal.

I did some light googling but couldn't find any specific tick information. If cowbirds do eat ticks, that's a major point in their favor in my eye - that would put them up there with turkeys as desirable neighbors in my yard (turkeys are known to gobble up ticks).

Claire

Thanks guys! Perhaps someone will see the cowbirds in context, their association with bison, and maybe realize they aren't just a nuisance preying on unsuspecting parent's to be.

To be fair however, the brown headed cowbird is a "homegrown" introduced species. They have expanded their range outwards from the central plains significantly since the days of American westward expansion. While once confined to the prairies, this adaptive bird now occupies almost all of North America.

Such is the case with a number of bird species, though. Before the 20th century blue jays were found pretty much exclusively east of the Mississippi, but now can be found all the way to the Rockies. Similarly, northern cardinals have begun to hopscotch their way west, following man-made urban forests and waterways that, prior to human mitigation, flooded too regularly for the forests that now grow along their banks to establish. They show up on eBird lists around Denver with increasing regularity. In a less fortunate instance this is one of the ways that it is suspected that barred owls have found their way to the Pacific Northwest where they out-compete and contribute to the decline of their cousins, spotted owls. It seems I'm going off on a tangent here...

As far as ticks go, Claire, I can't imagine that bird would pass up a meal. However, I have never found ticks to be a big problem here on the Front Range, we are after all a relatively "bug-free" region when compared to hotter and more humid climates. Perhaps there is simply no one who has ever asked the question of whether cowbirds eat ticks. It would be interesting. I do know possums (another critter that has started to migrate into Colorado) have a voracious appetite for ticks, and folks who can stand to keep a flock of screaming guinea fowl report that they do a fantastic job as well.

Catherine, I consider myself to be among the luckiest people on earth to have to opportunity to do what I do every day. My only complaint would be that I would prefer a more "rural" location than right outside downtown Denver, but, it sure beats sitting in an office all day ;).

Just another bird to me, part of nature.

Zach.......I like your "tangents". :)

Me too. Thank you, Zach, for the enlightenment about cowbirds. I stand more educated and certainly compassionate.

But not about bird banding.

Pat, I'm glad that you can better appreciate cowbirds! As far as banding goes though it's okay if we don't agree. Diverse backgrounds and opinions can often lead us to more dynamic solutions that better serve everyone and everything involved.

Zach, the bison photos are stunning.

Several cowbirds happily use my birdbaths daily and I am pleased to see them and pleased that they might even eat some bad bugs in my yards. I even welcome the starlings and other "black birds" now that I saw one dive-bomb and chase a neighborhood cat from my yard the other day. All birds are quite lovely and I didn't realize how narrow-minded I was, even at 76. Live and learn, what?

Pat......I had no idea you were .........oops......I was going to say "that old".....but there's probably a nicer way to say it. What I meant to say was you have a young spirit! :)

Aren't you the Pat I used to know who had that little white lotus in your old back yard? I'm 67.

catheriet, 2 years later: little white lotus? Not me.