D (2:20)

Yeah, you do it for me. How about that? Yeah, that's exactly what they do. And you're like, why would you do that? You have to be a jerk bird. And yeah, I think a lot of people think of cowbirds as kind of jerk birds just for doing that. But from Their point of view, this is just an adaptation that made a lot of sense to how they evolved originally. And they're from North America, and they were, I think, indigenous to the Great Plains of North America. And the reason why is because there's another animal that was indigenous to the Great Plains of North America and they had a commensal. Commensal?

E (2:59)

Is it commensal?

D (3:01)

I don't know. I don't think so. I feel like there's a U in there. Anyway, they had the kind of relationship where they benefited but didn't harm the other animal. And I feel like it's high time we tell everybody what the other animal was. Chuck.

E (3:15)

That's right. Drumroll, everybody. It is the bison. They would follow these bison across the plains sometimes. They were initially they were called bison birds or maybe buffalo birds, even though that's wrong. And they would follow these guys across the plains and they would feed on the insects that the bison would kick up, and they would sometimes ride along on their backs. And this led to why they would not birth their own little eggs in their own little nest and raise them. Because they went where the bison went, and they were always on the move. And bison can travel, buddy. So if they're moving 10, 20 miles a day and they're catching a ride on a bison's back, or at the very least flying around with the bison, they're not staying there long enough to set up their own home.

D (3:59)

Yeah. Cowbird was rolling stone.

E (4:03)

That's right. Well, bison bird at the time, I guess.

D (4:04)

Oh, yeah, that's right. So, yeah, it totally made sense that, like, they still need to reproduce, so they would just find a nest somewhere along the bison route and leave their egg and then fly back to the bison and be like, wait, wait, wait for me, everybody. And I feel like that's a pretty good place to take our break. What do you think?

E (4:25)

I totally agree.

D (4:26)

Okay. All right, we're taking our break, everybody.

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D (6:36)

So Chuck, sadly, as probably most people know, the American bison was over hunted almost to extinction. We can seriously legitimately thank Ted Turner for almost single handedly bringing the American bison back.

E (6:51)

That's right.

D (6:52)

And so while in between that period between over hunting and Ted Turner, the bison bird was like, I don't have my niche anymore. I need to figure out what's going on here. I got to start looking elsewhere. And they basically spread outside of their ecological niche in the Great Plains to look for other things they could do to replace their bison friends, which they must have just been horrified by all the massacres they witnessed.

E (7:20)

Yeah, I bet. Probably very sad times for the bison bird. But eventually one of them would land on a cow and say, hey, these guys aren't so bad to ride around on. But here's the thing is cows don't move around like the bison did. They're not traveling, you know, 20 miles a day. So you might think, all right, they're leading a more sedentary life. These birds are now cowbirds. And so maybe they will change their behavior now that they're not. They don't need to do this. But they didn't. They said, we love these cows, but we also kind of like this adaptation because, you know, who really wants to parent their young.

D (7:58)

Yeah, right, exactly. We're not gonna, we're not gonna change anything. We're just gonna stop, you know, wasting so much effort flying around all the time. I think there's, I don't remember. Oh, there's five species of cowbirds at least the parasitic versions and the brown headed cowbird. The reason we're talking about the brownhead is because it is by far the least picky about what nest it lays its eggs in. Yeah, so these are, you know, they're not large eggs, they're much smaller than like a chicken's egg, but they're probably not as tiny as like say a robin's egg. They're middling size eggs. Brown headed cowbirds will lay their eggs in like a duck's nest. So this little egg is like five times smaller than the other eggs around it. Obviously the ducks are like, what is this crud? And there are other bird species too that are kind of onto them. But a lot of times the birds will just, you know, play along or else just be fooled.

E (8:57)

Yeah. I think the finch is notorious for not liking these eggs in their nest. They're not good host to these, these intruding eggs. So apparently they will, you know, they will, they will die if they are left in charge of a finch. Other birds will, will get mad and puncture holes in the eggs or just, you know, beak them out of their nests. I think the catbirds do that. And then the yellow warbler has a strategy where they build nest. They'll just nest a new nest on top of those poor little eggs. Sometimes several new nests, like up to five new nests on top to really bury those guys.

D (9:35)

I know there's some like Tom and Jerry scene that makes me think of, but it happens really, really fast.

E (9:44)

Right, Right.

D (9:45)

So if however, the cowbird happens to lay their egg in a nest that the bird is like just too lazy to do anything about, that cowbird is probably going to be the only hatchling that survives because it has adaptations to out compete other birds in the nest that it's laid in.

E (10:08)

Yeah, one of them is they have a shorter incubation period. So they're born first, I think sometimes up to three or four days before the other eggs might hatch. And so they got a little bit of a head start where they might take care of those extra eggs themselves. These baby birds might nudge those things out. So earlier you were saying there are some bird enthusiasts that kind of think these are jerk birds. And in my mind I was like, yeah, but you know, these birds are doing their thing. You can't get mad at nature for being nature. But then you get to this part and you're kind of like, oh man, that really kind of sucks.

D (10:43)

Yeah. Yeah. So even if they're like, I'll let you guys stay, and the cowbird doesn't push the other hatchlings out just from being a couple days older, they'll be able to muscle the other birds out of the way to get the food and they'll just continue to outpace them in their growth. And it might be so bad that the other hatchlings starve because the cowbird doesn't let them get any of the food from the mother.

E (11:08)

Yeah, so I get it now, bird enthusiast. I have a question for you though, Joshua, which is, with all this going on, not being raised by their parents, how in the world does the cowbird not start to take on traits of the bird that raised them? How do they remain cowbirds?

D (11:27)

I'm glad you asked that. We don't really know, Chuck. As a matter of fact, there seems to be some sort of mechanism that prevents cowbirds from imprinting onto their adopted or foster parent from the other species. They're not exactly sure how this happens, but they think that cowbirds hatchlings are attuned to the sound of adult cowbirds in the area and that they're naturally attracted to it. Once they learn to fly, they'll go seek out other cowbirds. And I guess there they learn all of the cowbird habits like playing craps and smoking cigarettes and all that stuff. And then also there's they do some weird nighttime excursions out of the nest while they're being raised. And I guess no one knows where they go, but that's something that they're like. That probably has something to go learn actual cowbird behavior too.

E (12:23)

Yeah. I wonder if when they are attuned to the sound of their own, if they eventually fly out when they're big enough to find them. If they're like, mama. And the birds are like, don't look at me, buddy.

D (12:34)

Right, exactly. Even if it was their mom, they wouldn't take credit because it's a brown headed cowbird.

E (12:40)

Yeah, that's right.

D (12:41)

So if you want to find one of these, you might see them in your feeder. They are adapted to all over North America, rural, suburban, urban. You can find them everywhere. They're a smallish, a medium sized, smallish bird, whatever that means. But the males have a brown head that shines and shimmers almost like a deep red in the sunlight. And they also have iridescent greenish blue plumage on their body. The females, you're not gonna really notice that much. They're much less showy. But that's pretty standard for birds anyway, for sure.

E (13:19)

I think Short Stuff is about out, but since we have an extra 30 seconds, I'm gonna take this opportunity to promote the new nature series from the BBC, the latest in their ongoing work with the great David Attenborough. Sir David Attenborough, Asia.

D (13:38)

Oh, nice.

E (13:39)

And it is fantastic stuff, as always. Exactly what you would expect out of the BBC nature series. And Sir Attenborough is 99 years old. He's gonna be 100 in May, and he's still doing it. And it's just some really amazing, striking stuff.

D (13:58)

Did they spell it like Steely Dan

C (14:02)

spelled?

E (14:03)

What? Like Steely Dan. Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

D (14:05)

They spelled it normally A S, I, A. Okay, gotcha.

E (14:07)

Not A J, A.

D (14:09)

Well, there you go. You're welcome. BBC Chuck just hooked you guys up with some viewers. I'm going to go check that out myself.

E (14:16)

It's great. You guys would love it.

D (14:17)

Cool. Well, then I think now, Chuck, Short Stuff is out.

A (14:23)

Stuff youf Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, my heart radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite show.