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Nice Nest You've Got Here, Squire...Wouldn't Want To See Nothin' Happen To It...


Friday, March 9, 2007


cowbird%20baby.jpg

The cowbird is well-known for pushing the eggs out of other birds' nests and laying its own eggs there, to be reared by unsuspecting parents. (Cowbirds are not alone in this behavior, cuckoos and other birds do this, as well as various insects. The phenomenon is called "brood parasitism".)

This article from the Toronto Globe & Mail says that's not the full extent of the behavior. If a host bird realizes that there has been a switch and tries to get rid of the cowbird egg, a group of cowbirds will come back and damage the nest in retaliation. This deliberate revenge has been dubbed "Mafia behavior" by the scientists who have just published a study of the birds' behavior.

Their first clue was the pinkie rings and loud golf shirts favored by the Mafia cowbirds and the birds' favorite call "Fuhgeddaboutit! Fuhgeddatboutit!"

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