Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 14:36:19 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Fred Pierce Subject: Re: Grackle being fed by robins In-Reply-To: <011201c2073f$c71e48e0$b0a1c7cf@Earth2> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit There was a photo not long ago in one of the bird magazines of Cardinals and Robins sharing a nest. Some cross-feeding apparently took place as well. fdp -------------------------------------------- Fred Pierce (DNRC) Avialantic.com fpierce@avialantic.com www.avialantic.com MAAM WWII Weekend Airshow 2002 - June 7-9 www.maam.org/maamwwii.html MAAM Transportation Show 2002 - Sept. 21-22 www.maam.org/transhow.html ------------------------------------------- > -----Original Message----- > From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM]On > Behalf Of Walter Ellison > Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 2:26 PM > To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM > Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Grackle being fed by robins > > > Jim Felley asked: > >Has anyone seen or heard of grackles > > dumping their eggs in other birds nests, or seen robins voluntarily > >feeding the fledglings of other species? > > I haven't seen robins feeding non-robins but I once documented a > gnatcatcher(!) feeding baby grackles. In that case I'm quite sure the > gnatcatcher's nest failed and it took to feeding the nearest available > open mouths. Perhaps the persistent begging of the "abandoned" (or > "orphaned"?) grackle induced the harried parent robins to feed it? I > am unaware of any record of even accidental brood parasitism by > grackles, the grackle habitually rejects cowbird eggs. However > according to the "Birds of No. America" account by Brian Peer and Eric > Bollinger there have been a few cases of egg-dumping among grackle > nests so it's at least plausible for it to take place among species, > especially those with a somewhat similar nest and body size. > > Good Atlasing, > > Walter Ellison > MD/DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS > 23460 Clarissa Rd > Chestertown, MD 21620-3645 > 410-778-9568 > > "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast." - E. > B. White > > ====================================================================== > = > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================