Hi Marilyn,
This article from the Smithsonian National Zoo covers your question:
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/fact_sheets/default.cfm?
fxsht=3
-Geo
On Jun 26, 2011, at 9:06 AM, Marilyn Ray wrote:
Hello Birders,
The other day I got into my car just as a show about birds was
ending on the car radio. I did not get to hear the name of the
"expert" who was telling the audience about why cowbirds started
leaving their eggs in the nests of other birds to hatch and raise
their young. The "expert" said that the practice had its origins
in the middle part of the country when cowbirds had traditionally
followed the roaming buffalo herds and did not have time to lay and
hatch their own eggs before the herd moved on and they had to follow.
Could someone please tell me if this story is true? If so, what
was the food the birds got from following the buffalo that they
could not get elsewhere?
Thanks,
Marilyn Ray
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