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Molothrus ater
This bird landed in the Quansan Cherry tree that seems to be dying. All other birds left the tree, until it flew away. It was not larger than a Blue Jay, so I don't know if it was just coincidence that it landed and the others left. After reading about the "Mafia Behavior" below, maybe it wasn't a coincidence. "The Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a small brood parasitic icterid of temperate to subtropical North America. They are permanent residents in the southern parts of their range; northern birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico in winter, returning to their summer habitat around March or April.[1] They resemble New World orioles in general shape but have a finch-like head and beak. The adult male is mainly iridescent black with a brown head while the adult female is grey with a pale throat and fine streaking on the underparts."-Wikipedia
a brood parasite: it lays its eggs in the nests of other small passerines (perching birds), particularly those that build cup-like nests. The Brown-headed Cowbird eggs have been documented in nests of at least 220 host species, including hummingbirds and raptors.[2][3] The young cowbird is fed by the host parents at the expense of their own young. Brown-headed Cowbird females can lay 36 eggs in a season. More than 140 different species of birds are known to have raised young cowbirds.[4]-Wikipedia It seems that Brown-headed Cowbirds periodically check on their eggs and young after they have deposited them. Removal of the parasitic egg may trigger a retaliatory reaction termed "mafia behavior". According to a study by the Florida Museum of Natural History published in 1983, the cowbird returned to ransack the nests of a range of host species 56% of the time when their egg was removed. In addition, the cowbird also destroyed nests in a type of "farming behavior" to force the hosts to build new ones. The cowbirds then laid their eggs in the new nests 85% of the time.[7]- Wikipedia
Thanks Liam. I read up on the BHC and wow - they ransack their host nests if the host notices there is an impostor!! And they use tiny hummingbirds as their hosts too. That seems strange but I guess hummingbirds feed their young insects as well as nectars.
I could also see it as a House Finch, but personally it looks more like a BHC to me. Behavior supports this ID. House Finches are very social, often travelling and living in flocks of more or less a dozen birds. Brown-Headed Cowbirds are, for the most part, solitary, in the Immature stage of their life.
Spotted on Aug 28, 2011
Submitted on Aug 28, 2011
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