I've heard several accounts of how a Cuckoo will lay its egg in another species'
nest, and how the Cuckoo chick will overtake the nest and dominate the parents,
in their effort to feed the chick. Well on this day, I had an opportunity to see
this first-hand. While hiking down the Falls Park river trail on a very hot
July day, I could hear a plaintive call coming from a low tree up ahead. There
on a branch was a young Yellow-billed Cuckoo, calling for more food. Its mother
was a Yellow warbler; this tiny little bird flew back and forth with insects for
her enormous chick, never getting a rest and never satiating its appetite.
I would not be surprised if the Warbler succumbed to exhaustion and the
heat of that week.
My checklist:
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (chick),
Yellow Warbler (fem)
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
Gray Catbird
American Redstart
Song Sparrow
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch
nest, and how the Cuckoo chick will overtake the nest and dominate the parents,
in their effort to feed the chick. Well on this day, I had an opportunity to see
this first-hand. While hiking down the Falls Park river trail on a very hot
July day, I could hear a plaintive call coming from a low tree up ahead. There
on a branch was a young Yellow-billed Cuckoo, calling for more food. Its mother
was a Yellow warbler; this tiny little bird flew back and forth with insects for
her enormous chick, never getting a rest and never satiating its appetite.
I would not be surprised if the Warbler succumbed to exhaustion and the
heat of that week.
My checklist:
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (chick),
Yellow Warbler (fem)
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
Gray Catbird
American Redstart
Song Sparrow
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch
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