Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus Ater), Juvenile, Being Fed By A Song Sparrow (Melospiza Melodia), Taken
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), juvenile, being fed by a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), taken May 9, 2025, in Georgia, US
A fat cowbird chick being fed by its song sparrow foster parent! It seems as though our only song sparrow pair were chosen by the cowbirds as fosters this spring. Luckily, song sparrows are known to attempt to nest up to four times in a season, so they have plenty of chances left to raise their own brood! Once this baby cowbird becomes independent, it will meet with other baby cowbirds and begin its life as a young adult! For now, though, it's content to take handouts from mom and dad!
I feel as though the concept is much more common knowledge now, but to those who come across this and don't know: cowbirds are nest parasites, meaning they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds so they don't have to raise their babies themselves. They do this because building a nest and caring for young is extremely costly for females and may result in a lower chick yield than creating more eggs (up to 40) and laying them in an array of host nests does. The cowbird chick often hatches before the host nest's chicks, grows faster, becomes larger, and is louder, leading to the host chicks being neglected and often dying before fledging. While this is sad, bird parents have evolved to account for the possibility of being parasitized and will often nest multiple times in a season to ensure they have at least one healthy brood of their own chicks! Many bird species are also extremely good at recognizing cowbird eggs and can either eject them from the nest or destroy them before they hatch. Nest parasites are one of many natural population control agents that ensure native bird populations remain stable, so they are not a bad thing if the parasite is native, which cowbirds are in the US!
More Posts from Northerlyy and Others
Tube-dwelling Spider (Ariadna bicolor), female, taken March 18, 2025, in Georgia, US
Well, good news is that she definitely is living in a tube! Bad news is that it is no longer inside the log she was in, but instead on the chunk of wood I ripped off the log. This provides and excellent view of the nest structure, but doesn't serve very well as a home anymore. I put the wood chunk back as well as I could, but whether it was good enough is still up in the air!
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens), male, taken March 28, 2025, in Georgia, US
Because of the massive amounts of pollen in the air, birds are now much harder to photograph... I'm way too sniffly and loud to allow them to relax, so nobody really shows when I'm outside (except robins, of course). This guy was willing to take the risk, though! Downies tend to be really bold, though, so that isn't really a surprise!
Turquoise Bluets (Enallagma divagans), teneral (top) and adult (bottom), taken April 13, 2025, in Georgia, US
A couple lifer damselflies from yesterday! I actually initially thought they were different species because I didn't see the black stripe on the top individual immediately. The difference in their coloration is due to the top individual being teneral, a term referring to any arthropod who has recently molted and not had time to harden their exoskeleton. In almost every case, teneral individuals are much paler than more developed ones. In comparison to the fully-formed adult below it, this damselfly is nearly colorless! You can see some blue beginning to develop, but it's mostly metallic brown and lacks black venation on the wings. Soon, its new exoskeleton will dry, and it will be beautiful and blue like the others!
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea), male, taken March 21, 2025, in Georgia, US
A fun new birding lifer for me! This guy was a pain to photograph, though that's only partially because he was flitting around constantly and mostly because the sun was making it hard to see if my camera was in focus or not :'). I got some nice pictures, though, and a video of him singing I have to review. This bird's song is so quiet that I'm not even sure my camera picked it up over the ambiance. It's like a whisper!
Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans), taken April 20, 2025, in Georgia, US
Little guys!! Cricket frogs are out all over the place right now! I keep scaring them when I patrol the creek banks because it's nearly impossible to see them before they move. Once they think they're hidden, though, you can just scoop them right up, especially from the water. Because of this, they're extremely good for photos! I would advise against touching frogs and other amphibians unnecessarily because of their sensitive skin and our tendency to carry diseases they are susceptible to. Luckily, these guys don't need to be moved anywhere!
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), female, taken April 28, 2025, in Georgia, US
A lovely woodpecker mom visiting the feeders! Usually this species is very shy, and I wasn't being particularly quiet this day, so I'm not sure why she even came over lol. Regardless, I got some good pictures of her looking at me over her shoulder between bites! It's about time for me to start seeing her baby (or babies) at the feeders. Juveniles of this species completely lack the red head pattern of adults, having a plain gray head, so they're pretty easy to identify. Maybe I'll see them around!
Spiny Assassin Bug (Sinea spinipes), taken May 5, 2025, in Georgia, US
Spiny, indeed! Look at those legs! The nymphs of this species are mostly black with a yellow abdomen, quite different from the brown camouflage of adults. If you're not looking closely, adults can be overlooked at a brown spot on leaves or part of tree bark. They're quite good at what they do! I usually only find nymphs, so finding this adult hiding in the leaves was a nice treat!
Eastern Calligrapher (Toxomerus geminatus), male, taken March 9, 2025, in Georgia, US
Gloomy days that are just slightly cold and a tad misty make for good days to hunt down sleepy flying insects! Although there are less around, those you find are much easier to photograph since they're all bedded down. This guy didn't even flinch when I got all up in his face. He kindly allowed me some side profiles, which show off his cool leg anatomy!
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), taken May 27, 2024, in Georgia, US
Nature's police, fittingly blue-colored! Sometimes the jays will sound the alarm to get everyone to leave the feeders so they get VIP access to all the seeds. Sometimes the jay alarm call is actually a starling, and all of the birds get double-tricked!
Pine Flower Weevil (Cimberis pilosa), taken April 1, 2025, in Georgia, US
Liftoff!! While I was photographing birds, this guy landed on my hand and spent a few minutes with me. I actually took him into my house to grab my macro lens and got it on just in time to catch him leaving! You can see that he's covered in pine pollen, as his name would imply. He's likely off to the next pine tree!
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Wildlife photography of all kinds in no particular chronological order... call me North!All photos posted are taken by me, and everything that appears here is documented on iNaturalist as well.
242 posts