*The Queens County Bird Club* *will be meeting at the Alley Pond Environmental Center (APEC) on Wednesday, November 18th at 8pm.* (For travel directions, see http://www.alleypond.com/directions.htm).* * PROGRAM: Cowbirds, Cuckoos, and Coots: Behavioral Diversity of Brood Parasitic Birds, or Even Cowbirds Get the Blues, by Dr. Mark Hauber, Hunter College
Perhaps the most surprising image in nature is a host feeding a large and unrelated cuckoo chick. Why do birds not recognize and reject foreign young? How can cowbirds and cuckoos get away with costly brood parasitic breeding tactics? This talk will survey the evolutionary and behavioral diversity of avian parasites, from the backyard cowbird to the world’s largest parasite, the channel-billed cuckoo of Australia. Dr. Hauber will draw examples using work from collaborative studies across Europe, North American, African, and New Zealand. QCBC is a tax exempt, charitable organization {501c3}. Trips and Meetings are free! Please consider joining or making a contribution if you attend or participate. Please check our website for more information: http://queenscountybirdclub.org/ Please send questions about the meeting and QCBC to Arie Gilbert, President, <ariegilb...@optonline.net> *Donna Schulman QCBC* -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --