Last week I had the good fortune to take a trip to visit my family in Buenos Aires. The breeding season there is long because of the benign weather, and birds are still building nests and feeding chicks. One of the species I had the luck to enjoy is the Grayish Baywing, a social icterid that raises its own young. One of the days my family and I witnessed an interesting behavior, and I cannot find any information about it, so I am curious to know if any of you have ever seen anything of the like and if you have any insight.
There were about 12-20 Grayish Baywings gathered on the lawn. They were calling and singing to each other, and some birds were picking up dry leaves from the ground and showing them to each other. Other birds would then pick leaves and show them back to the first birds. There were even some birds cutting dried leaves from the shrubs above. Some birds (juveniles?) were engaging in begging-like behaviors, but no feeding was happening. After a while, they took off flying. There are still couples feeding chicks in the area, as I've seen them flying with food into the cavities where the chicks wait.
I thought it was an interesting interaction, as I had never seen something like that before. Maybe other more experienced birders have?
