Cowbird moms pay attention to the size of eggs in the nests they choose for egg-laying, a new study finds. Inset: Two cowbird eggs in the nest of a northern cardinal, with two (larger) eggs of its own. Photo by Loren Merrill; Inset photo by Scott Chiavacci
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Brown-headed cowbirds are unconventional mothers. Rather than building nests and nurturing their chicks, they lay their eggs in the nests of other species, leaving their young ones to compete for resources with the foster parents' own hatchlings. Despite their reputation as uncaring, absentee moms, cowbird mothers are capable of making sophisticated choices among potential nests in order to give their offspring a better chance of thriving, a new study shows. Brown-headed cowbirds are known to lay their eggs in the nests of more than 200 other bird species of varying sizes, and typically do so after the host bird has laid her own eggs. The new study, led by a team at the University of Illinois, found that when cowbird mothers chose the nest of a larger host bird, they preferred those that held smaller-than-average eggs for that species. Smaller host eggs give the cowbird eggs a better chance of being successfully incubated; smaller host hatchlings mean the cowbird chicks face less competition for food and nest space.
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