Yesterday at lunch I walked in Heritage Park in Sachse. I like that park because a Loggerhead Shrike lives there. This little songbird-sized predator loves the combination of small trees, open fields, and chain-link fences offered by this little baseball-field park. I like it when that bird lands near me and I can take photographs.
After work, I saw a small Brown-headed Cowbird lying on the ground. I did not think it looked hurt or in distress. I thought it looked as if it is learning its way around flying. I left it alone, but took a photograph from afar with a zoom lens. These birds are brood predators--they lay their eggs in other birds' nests. I read a reasonable explanation that this strategy lets them follow cattle herds more easily than raising young. I see a lot of them this year.
