Female Brown-headed Cowbird: Cowbirds developed the strange habit of laying eggs in other birds' nests. The allow the adopted parents to raise their young as their own, often to the...

mhbenton Loc: USA, Georgia

Cowbirds developed the strange habit of laying eggs in other birds' nests. The allow the adopted parents to raise their young as their own, often to the detriment of their own chicks.

Nikon D810 w/Sigma 150-600mm at 600mm. 1/4000" f/8 ISO 5000. The shallow DOF is due to a distance of about 6 meters.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Nice shot.

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

Very nice.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Nice work!

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Nice image.

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

mhbenton wrote:

Cowbirds developed the strange habit of laying eggs in other birds' nests. The allow the adopted parents to raise their young as their own, often to the detriment of their own chicks.

Nikon D810 w/Sigma 150-600mm at 600mm. 1/4000" f/8 ISO 5000. The shallow DOF is due to a distance of about 6 meters.

The interesting thing is that they don't totally abandon their chicks but the chicks sneak out of the nest at night and join their parents in the bushes.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

mhbenton wrote:

Cowbirds developed the strange habit of laying eggs in other birds' nests. The allow the adopted parents to raise their young as their own, often to the detriment of their own chicks.

Nikon D810 w/Sigma 150-600mm at 600mm. 1/4000" f/8 ISO 5000. The shallow DOF is due to a distance of about 6 meters.

J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio

mhbenton wrote:

Cowbirds developed the strange habit of laying eggs in other birds' nests. The allow the adopted parents to raise their young as their own, often to the detriment of their own chicks.

Nikon D810 w/Sigma 150-600mm at 600mm. 1/4000" f/8 ISO 5000. The shallow DOF is due to a distance of about 6 meters.

Nice shot.

tcthome Loc: NJ

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Cool capture

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

mhbenton wrote:

Cowbirds developed the strange habit of laying eggs in other birds' nests. The allow the adopted parents to raise their young as their own, often to the detriment of their own chicks.

Nikon D810 w/Sigma 150-600mm at 600mm. 1/4000" f/8 ISO 5000. The shallow DOF is due to a distance of about 6 meters.

A spectacular avian portrait with great background and light 🤎🤎🏆🤎🤎

Bubalola Loc: Big Apple, NY

mhbenton wrote:

Cowbirds developed the strange habit of laying eggs in other birds' nests. The allow the adopted parents to raise their young as their own, often to the detriment of their own chicks.

Nikon D810 w/Sigma 150-600mm at 600mm. 1/4000" f/8 ISO 5000. The shallow DOF is due to a distance of about 6 meters.

Good work, MHBenton!

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

Very nice