THE BROWN HEADED COWBIRD

The bird feeders in my backyard have always brought me joy. But there is one bird that visits my birdfeeder that I really don’t like. It’s the Brown Headed Cowbird. This medium sized black bird with a brown head flies in groups. They descend on the feeders and chase all the other birds away. They throw the food out they don’t want and eat the seeds they like, wasting much of the food. They are not pretty; they don’t have a beautiful voice. They also have a nasty habit of laying eggs in other birds nest so they don’t have to work at sitting on a nest and feeding their young. Basically, they are pests.

As I researched the birds I found there were foods they did not like. That’s what I started putting in my feeder to discourage these parasites of the air. Still there was a question in my mind. If robins, finches, swallows and the like are raising these birds how do they know they are brown headed cowbirds? How do they know to leave the one that has nurtured them and find their kind?

This question goes unanswered for now. But I did observe an interesting site one day. Out on my deck were a large group of cowbirds, mostly male. They had lined up a group of young male cowbird and were teaching them an elaborate dance. They were on one leg with their wings fanned. Slowly they tilted back and forth changing legs in a highly structured dance. The young birds tried to mimic the adults. They fell off the railing and to the ground numerous times but the adults continued to bring them back and teach them the rudiments of this dance.

I still don’t like the cowbirds but I have a new appreciation for nature. I have often wondered if we are like the cowbirds birds. How do we seek out our own and find those like us. What elaborate dance do we learn as we try to fit into our groups? We see young people wanting to belong and joining gangs. There are expectations and behaviors that they need to learn to belong. When one joins a church there are doctrines to learn and behaviors that change. When we volunteer or move into a neighborhood there are things we need to do to be successful and fit in.

Unlike the brown headed cowbird we can change groups if we don’t like what is expected, the behaviors learned, or the ideology presented. Many times we stay in a group because it is familiar, or it is too hard to change. There is a saying “we stay in hell because we know the road signs.” This month I have been challenging myself to change is positive ways. I like what I see. Change can be frightening and hard but it is worth the effort.