The Brown-headed Cowbird is a brood parasite. It lays its eggs in the nests of other bird species, letting the host incubate the cowbird eggs and raise the young. Human alteration of the landscape has expanded cowbird range. As a result, bird species that did not evolve to co-exist with cowbirds are feeling population pressures. Now, there is a video showing an even worse situation — a cowbird apparently prepping the would-be host nest by grabbing the hatchlings in the nest and tossing them to the ground. This is presented as first unequivocal evidence of this behavior. Go to http://www.easternct.edu/personal/faculty/elliottp/index.htm and click on the video screen in the lower right corner.Â

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