Here is my least favorite bird, the

Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater).

According to the authoritative Cornell

Ornithology Lab, this bird accounts for

60% of the Cardinal predation. And it’s

not just Cardinals, but all other songbirds

that this species preys upon. Like Cuckoos,

Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nest of

other birds. However, while Cuckoos then

leave the nesting adult “foster parents”

to hatch and raise their young, the

Cowbirds go further. The female,

pictured on the right, waits nearby the

nest where she has laid her eggs, and when

the nesting adults leave to feed, she comes

back to the nest and destroys their eggs,

leaving only her own eggs intact. This is

the terrorist of the bird world.

The male sports the eponymous Brown head.

And that’s all the time I want to spend on

this bird.

23APR06

4MAY06

I have only “fly over” shots of Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis - 17NOV08) because they never land near

here, but for weeks during their migration north in the Spring and south in the Autumn they are impossible

to ignore. They have

   And, speaking of distinctive vocalizations, here is the familiar Mourning Dove

(Zenaida macroura - 21JUN06) that is named for its hollow mournful cooing.

These are another of my year-round neighbors.

the most distinctive

bugling “yodel” as they

fly over which carries

for what seems like

impossible distances –

at times they are so

high that they are

barely visible, yet you

would swear that they

are just overhead.