A few weeks ago, while cooking, I heard in the garden a sharp, loud, demanding, and continuous "peep" that seemed to ask for constant attention. Without hesitation, I went out with my camera and captured a curious scene: A bronzed cowbird chick, also known as Pius, was continually chasing and claiming food from a black-striped sparrow, a different kind of bird. It was very evident that this dark and screaming pigeon was not the son of that discreet and shy sparrow, whom he had already seen on occasion in the garden.
The poor sparrow was stressed with such incessant chanting, enough to reach a little piece of banana and feed her black pursuer from beak to beak. Typically, these finches are not easily seen. They feed on the ground and among twigs of low bushes, looking for seeds, small insects, and sometimes wild berries. It is rare to see them eating a banana in an open area.
This strategy of reproduction by the bronzed cowbird is called “parasitism of interspecific laying.” Instead of investing in a nest and devoting a few weeks to tend to their chicks, the females of this species lay their eggs in the nests of other, usually smaller birds.
