Date: 8/29/26 4:29 pm From: Dale Ball via groups.io <Daleball56...> Subject: Re: [slocobirding] Hooded Oriole feeding young Brown-headed Cowbird
Hey Freddy! We had this happen in 2024. We are right across the Salinas
River, in Atascadero. It was such a surprise! At first I thought it was
just a House Finch coincidentally showing up with the Orioles for a bit of
jelly ( some HOFI and other species had been enjoying the jelly ),but this
little guy always showed up with a HOOR and begged to be fed. I've attached
a picture of the dad HOOR with the BHCO. There's jelly in the cup.
Dale Ball
Atascadero
On Sat, Aug 29, 2026 at 3:44 PM Freddy Howell via groups.io <jandfhowellz=
<icloud.com...> wrote:
> Weird happenings in HOOR land, aka Templeton. We’ve been watching lots of
> young with multiple adults for several weeks. This is actually the second
> group of youngsters. We have been watching a young bird we call
> “Flutterbutt” because of its incessant pestering of “Mom” for several days
> at the jelly feeder. Just today, I got a good look at the baby and realized
> it was a cowbird, due to its head/bill transition and spotty breast. I have
> included two rather poor photos, but at least I took down the screen. The
> window is filthy because of all the birds flinging nectar and jelly. We’ll
> clean it when they’re gone in a couple of weeks. This is the first time I
> have seen this in the 8 years that we have had the jelly feeder up. Don’t
> cowbirds usually drop their eggs in smaller birds nests? Has anyone else
> heard of cowbirds parasitizing a bird as big as a Hooded Oriole?
> Thanks for any insights.
> Freddy Howell
> Templeton/Paso Robles Border
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